Paula and I are at the shareasale.com Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas. This is our second Affiliate Summit and we are much more confident this time around. We are no longer unsure of how to approach Affiliate networks and merchants especially as one of our sites is on page one of Google which gives us a little credibility. It shows that we know how to get a website to rank well and as our competition number 41,000,000 it is no mean feat.

Affiliate Marketing is an excellent way to earn an income with your website or blog. Simply join up with one of the Affiliate networks such as CJ, shareasale.com, Affiliate Traction, Link Connector, LinkShare.com; join a merchant program that suits your website and place the merchant ads and/or banners on your site. It is certainly a way to gain a bit of extra income.

For those of you who are really interested in getting started in Affiliate Marketing, Paula and I can thoroughly recommend the James Martell method of learning. Everything is outlined in small, understandable sessions and James is a patient, thorough teacher

“How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite”. Although this may be a simplistic riddle, for me it holds a vital key to running a successful home business. No one would expect you to eat an elephant in one mouthful, and you should not expect yourself to build a thriving home business without breaking it down into smaller, more manageable portions.

These manageable portions could be steps towards a major goal. Steps just keep the momentum going - once you have achieved the first step, then you can take the next one, and so on.

The best way to build a thriving business is to take it one step at a time.

Baby Step #1

Get rid of the fear of failure. Nobody wants to be the one to go against the grain by trying to obtain financial freedom, only to come up empty handed. Do not be afraid to take chances by following your true dreams; turn that daydream of yours into a reality.

Baby Step #2

Avoid negative influences. These influences could be friends, family or even co-workers that constantly remind you that where you are now is where you will remain for the next 25 to 30 years (assuming your job has a decent retirement plan). Hearing that on a regular basis can do some serious damage to one’s self-esteem. Feed off of that burning desire inside you to better the lives of your loved ones and you. Rid yourself of negative people and things that discourage you.

Baby Step #3

Never settle. Everyone would love to be able to do what they want when they want, be able to purchase what they want, when they want, without worrying if it will affect that months rent. Instead the average person just settles. They create their whole way of living around an unsatisfying check that is just getting them by. Do not fall into that category of people who say, “Wow, that would be nice, but I can’t get it.”

Do not hesitate in obtaining the knowledge and tools that you will need to help you get to where you want to be in your career as well as in your life. Keep these things in mind and you’ll be well on your way to…Starting a Home Business.

About the Author:

David Lawrence operates a successful home based business and coaches others seeking to start their own home based business. He invites you to visit his website at http://www.wahpips.com

When you are sitting at the computer all day at home it is very easy to reach out and pick at unhealthy snacks, not realising just what you are doing to your waistline and health.

With this in mind, Paula and I make sure that we get regular exercise at the local ladies only gym, Fernwood in Tuggeranong. We have been doing lots of stretch and yoga classes so yesterday I decided it was time to up the ante and did the pump class. Well today I am having difficulty walking up and down the stairs. Every step feels like I am being stabbed with a burning knife blade - at least thats how it appears to me.

Having done this many times before, you know what I mean- reach a high level of fitness and then stopping going to the gym for quite some months; I know that in the next day or so I will feel the benefits of this strenuous exercise but at the moment I just want to curl up in a ball with some hazelnut chocolate and make the bad pain go away.

Having said that, it is important to not let the computer take over your life completely. Factor in the breakations and fun times.

A timer is a good tool to have on your desk to remind you of when to take a break, go for a walk or have a healthy snack.

Now where’s that phone book I need to make an appointment for a massage

My daughter has been sucked into a number of schemes simply because she won’t take the time to research emails that are sent to her promising untold wealth if she signs up and sends money.

Unfortunately she refuses to listen to me. I have been working online for a number of years now - but what would I know.

So many hundreds of dollars later and with nothing to show for her effort, she has finally woken up to the fact that maybe her mother does know what she is talking about.

If it appears to be too good to be true, you can bet your boots it is.

Never send bank details to anyone without ensuring that you are dealing with a reputable firm and NEVER send money to anyone offering to set you up with an online business that will make you wealthier than Bill Gates. (more…)

While we were talking I introduced her to the world of blogging and making money from home.  She had never heard of blogging and she is not alone in this.  Hardly anyone I meet, including family on my recent trip to NZ, know about blogging and when you consider that there are around 98 million blogs on the internet and the number is growing daily, I find it incredible that people haven’t stumbled upon the term somewhere.

But then when I mentioned it to my husband he pointed out that he and our immediate family only know about blogging because I am so involved in it along with the affiliate marketing side of having an online work from home business.

Paula and I have been working with our various blogs for a little while now and realised the potential for making money from this medium in the early days. 

Of all the people that I have told about blogging, and I mention to anyone willing to listen, only one has taken up the challenge and that is my daughter Varinina.  My granddaughter Demelza started a blog but teenage angst has gotten in the way of her progression with it. 

Now we all know that it takes time to build up a blog that people want to read and keep coming back to, so it has to have something to offer that is interesting and/or informative.  The content needs to be well written and easy to read. 

If the blog is about a product such as our area rugs  or lingerie blogs then you are able to add Google and merchant ads that relate to your product and this will generate an income for you.  It won’t make you an overnight millionaire but as your online traffic increases you should be able to make a nice little income.

The next biggest single thing you need to do is get traffic into your site, so you will need to promote your blog to sites like www.spicypage.com, www.mybloglog.com, and any other number of blog directories and communities that can easily be found on the web by typing ‘blog directories’ or ‘blog communities’ into the search engine.

So we now know that:

• the content needs to be well written
• place Google ads on the page
• place merchant ads on the page
• actively promote your blog to get traffic

Blogging is not only a way to produce an income, it is fun especially when you are writing about things that interest you. Once you join a blog community and start to read other peoples blogs you will find some are personal diaries, some are humourous, some topic specific and most make great reading.  Sometimes you will come across something that clashes with your beliefs, simply move on, do not get involved in silly name calling or online arguments, remember to respect other peoples point of view, they have a right to their opinions as much as you do.

It won’t be long and my two dogs will pick up on the chatter and run outside and scare them all off but for the moment they are too content playing inside and making a mess of my carpet with dirty paw prints.

Now there is silence…and the chattering has stopped. Who knows what has silenced them - maybe the grandaddy of sparrows has had enough and told all the youngins to quieten down. Or maybe they are discussing where to head off to next. Who really cares.. I am just having fun watching and enjoying the fact that I am at home, working from my computer…just loving life!

My grandmother is an internet success, and spends her free time enjoying the pleasures of working to her own schedule. She loves the laid back attitude she can finally take advantage of after over 20 years in the public sector.

Being at home and starting her own internet business has improved her temperament immensely, and her inner and outer wellbeing and health have increased. She now sparkles with a relaxed energy and beauty.

My mom is a work from home mom as well. She enjoys working from home for the simple benefits of the wellbeing of her family. She is home to greet my sibling’s everyday, and she takes a keen interest in their lives and personalities that other mothers might miss.

My mother can tell by looking at her little people if they have had a good or bad day - whether they ate all their lunch, got detention or an award. She knows when they are tired and hungry, or overactive and hungry, but most of the time she knows when they are happy and hungry.

Every night my mom makes a healthy home made dinner, and every morning after breakfast she sends the little ones to school with a smile and a packed lunch full of home made goodies.

During daylight hours my mother is an internet fiend. She blogs and complete surveys, she writes internet articles and sends email like there is no tomorrow. When she completes her daily techno “job” she attends to her other areas of expertise. She cleans her house, bakes yummy food (which she almost always lets me try first) and she still has time to call me, spend time with me and show the same amount of love and care with me, an adult, as she does with her smaller children.

The women in my family are smart and strong and independent. In my spare time I read their blogs and do my best not to be lazy and do nothing during the day while I am at home, and go to work at night.

I love to see pictures on their blogs and I remember the stories and anecdotes they post with humour and widescreen colour and surround sound memories. Working from home has improved the lives of my mother and her mother. Everyone should enjoy the freedoms these women enjoy because once in while all women need a good massage and brilliant manicure.

Why I became a blogger, why I like blogging, why I don’t like blogging

I love blogging. I was introduced to blogging by my mother who is a seasoned writer, traveler and all-round consumer. Her blogs are about shopping and traveling and movie reviews and crazy happenings in the world.

Mum and her best friend are delving right into the ‘webs’ belly’ and reaping the benefits of running an online business and community connections that are still only a mystery to me as I’m fairly new to blogging.

I began with a blog at Blogger.com. But there are lots of other places to start including Wordpress.com

By joining communities at mybloglog.com and Spicypage, you get to read the blogs of others who like the same things as you do.

Becoming a member of other communities and posting comments on other blogs, posting discussions in forums, joining groups and branching out into an exiting web of over 96 million other bloggers from all over the world, you can really discover how amazing the internet is.

I use my blog to tell my friends what I am doing and what life is like in a new city. It is cheaper to have an online diary or blog than to write letters or phone everyone, so I keep up with news about family members and their friends and anyone can read it.

(more…)

If you have a work from home success story, know a bit about Affiliate Marketing, have experienced the world of paid surveys or are making money with your blog then we would like to hear from you.

We also like articles relating to self improvement, positive thinking or the law of attraction but they must relate in some way to working from home.

We will happily link back to your blog or website in the article.

So if you ready to add a work from home story please head over to our Submit Article page to read our submission guidelines.

On returning home I noticed how lovely the Cherry Blossom trees were looking.  The flowers have just come out over the last couple of days.

It made me think as I went back to work, how lucky I am to be able to sit at home  working on the computer and look out on such a beautiful display. Beats having to sit in an office all day hidden away from the light of day.