For some this may not be a big deal, but sadly, I have a horrible habit of skimming. It’s something I really need to break and this lesson started it off. Short, to the point, and a bulleted list of homework to get started on right away. It worked, I did.

I’ll be running an affiliate contest in May. Oh, you didn’t know I had products let alone an affiliate program? Yeah, I know, hence Nicole’s lesson is getting me up and rolling. I’ve kept the affiliate program low key because I just had so much I wanted to set up before I recruited strongly. It’s time to get over that and just get it to working.

I’ll have more details coming up, but you can get a jump start and become an affiliate HERE. I immediately emailed my top affiliate Lauren to brainstorm prizes she’d like to earn in this upcoming contest.

So there’s just a few hours of pushing my education up a notch. What are your plans for learning in business this year?

Yes, it’s tax season and this means we all have the best account of what we are doing with our businesses. Everything is broken down to what we are spending, saving and what programs are working.

One area I’ve been seriously lacking in the last two years is furthering my education. I’ve been ignoring it by using the “I don’t have time” excuse. Not pushing my businesses to the next level is a big waste of time and that goes against everything I believe in. I don’t have time to waste, so let’s see how some learning can get me using my time even more efficiently.

So where to start? That’s been an easy choice. Two people I follow and look to for a lot of information have come out with group coaching programs geared towards things I’d love to keep pushing ahead. I signed up for Nicole Dean’s Income CPR today. What are you getting with the program?

==> Immediate Access To The Monthly Lesson with Case Studies

==> Ask Nicole – Yep! You can email Nicole your questions about the lessons & she’ll answer them.

==> She’ll help recruit affiliates for you via her FreeAffiliateArticles.com site.

The opening price is way underpriced. Nicole charges $500 an hour for consulting. You’ll be getting access to how she’s built her business for only $10 a month. However, that will change at any time as the program fills up. So don’t wait.

No, that’s not just a big sales blurb of poo from me. Well it’s a sales blurb, but I’ve “known” Nicole for years through forums and I trust that this program will not waste my time in the least.  I’ve downloaded the first lesson and will be opening it up as soon as I hit publish here on the blog.

I’ll work on keeping more updates as I go along. I’m starting out with Nicole’s program and then adding another program this weekend or next week that I know will be a good one. But since I haven’t focused on learning in so long I don’t want to jump in over my head and not follow through. It’s all about the follow through.

So why not join me in the Income CPR program and we can both chat about our progress?

There are thousands of mom bloggers already online. Many of them are making money, and most of them are trying to make money. Do you have what it takes to be a profitable mom blogger? I believe that any mom blogger can start to generate a profit from her blog with the right approach and learned skills. That means you too.

It does take some study and some work. You will not become a millionaire overnight. Now that we have that cleared up let me reiterate that you can make money blogging. It might not be the same type of blogging that you are thinking of right now. How serious are you about making money blogging? You might have to adjust your thinking, your habits, and your schedule, but you can make a profit.

Here’s some ways to start a blog that won’t work very well.
**the willy-nilly-slap-something-up approach,
**the kiss-up-to companies approach,
**the controversial approach to get attention,
**the fake-it-till-you-make-it approach, and
**the guilt-my-family-and-friends-into-reading approach.
Go ahead if you want to try them. You might see a flare-up of popularity before everything goes down the drain. If you do try them you will learn some good lessons, but you will also waste some valuable time.

While you are working on building traffic to your blog you can add affiliate links and become an affiliate marketer. You don’t have to have your own product to sell; you can sell an already finished product for a commission. You can also use your sidebar as a place for an ad network. They find the advertisers; you wait for the profit.

Just because anyone can start a blog for free does not mean that there isn’t a necessary skill set. The good news is that the necessary skills can be learned and developed by anyone with the will to learn. There are profitable bloggers of all age levels from middle school to senior citizens; and of all skill sets from drop-outs to college grads. Blogging is a good thing to know. Most websites have them and the skill of blogging is a marketable asset in and of itself.

Just doing what you can and hoping for the best will only get you so far. If you want your blog to make a profit then you need to study and learn the best way to do just that.

If you want to learn more about blogging, gaining more exposure in the blogosphere, building great relationships and incorporating new profit points into your content be sure to sign up for the Smart Blogging Skills 10 week course.

A few weeks ago I had both my email inboxes well under 10 each. I can’t remember how low they both got, but it was probably 5 or under. It was AWESOME! I have two gmail accounts and I forward all my emails to these accounts. I came off of a very productive month of February and hit March by getting that inbox down. It was so easy to open my email and figure out exactly what needed attention. But somehow in the last 2 weeks it’s back to somewhat out of control. Not fully, but it’s not in a manageable state.

Thankfully Tishia Lee posted how awesome her inbox count was on her status. Yes, my first thought did include a swear word and I possibly even had to rewrite my first comment so it didn’t sound snarky instead of funny like I meant it. Then it hit me that this was possibly a direct correlation of how my last week of working has gone. I’ve let it overwhelm me.

Since I use gmail I dove in and cleaned up. I’m not down to where I want to be, but I started at 8:30pm and I really didn’t want to stay up too late working on it. How’d I work on getting a grip on it all?

1. UNSUBSCRIBE! This is always one of the first things I do when I notice my inbox is starting to add up. If there is an email list I recognize I don’t open regularly before deleting or hasn’t peaked an action from me in a while then I click the unsubscribe button.

2. Label and Archive. This is a major one for me and one I battle with. Of course it’s easy for me to label things that are directly site related, but I’ve had one of my gmail accounts for so many years that I worry about putting emails into labels and not coming back to them. If you have a suggestion for that I’d love to hear it.

3. DELETE! This one is such a hard one and I wish I didn’t take weeks to come to the decision that I am not going to act on an email. Typically these will be emails from a company that I’m an affiliate for and I mean to put up a post about the special or the new product. I need to set up a better system of adding a quick post (whole other story) or deleting quicker. I’m working hard at deleting emails about new products I really would like to buy. Needed products are purchased immediately, wants seem to end up holing up in my inbox.

These are my tops for instantly downsizing your email inbox. Sure they can be basic and things that you already have in place. But if you have over 20 emails in your inbox regularly then you are procrastinating on them. I know I’ve signed up for a few ecourses recently and have gotten overwhelmed now that I’m behind. Once it clicked in my head that my email was getting out of control, it dawned on me that this is a direct correlation to a week that I felt overwhelmed. I know that this month is going to finish strong because I’ve caught this much quicker than normal. I’m trying to burrow out from it and I’m on the way now. I have to prepare for spring break next week and much less time online!

Getting Crissy’s email about plr rights to her incredible workshop, was exactly what I wanted to hear and what could help bring an extra spark back into one of my sites. She’s sold this previously as a how to get your craft biz online workshop, but has reworked it so it will fit all businesses. It is a highly marketable workbook package now called Teach Your Readers How To Market Their Business Online. At an affordable $34.99 you can make more than the sale amount in just 3 sales. This isn’t something to market for less than $19.95 and if you add some email coaching to the mix, you can charge much more.

Grab this Free Marketing PLR Bundle and see just how great the writing is at All Marketing Content.

Not into the WAHM or marketing scene? Here are some awesome free plr bundles to try as well. Yes, I’ve used them all.

Free Health PLR Article Bundle
Free Finance Article Bundle
Free Craft Bundle
Free Mom Bundle
Free Travel PLR Bundle
Free Green Bundle

There’s always the Retiring Bundle Sale that you must check out and jump on if it’s in your niche. Right now there are a few VERY useful bundles at 50% off.

Lynette Chandler and TechBasedTraining has an awesome deal that I can pass on to my readers. 15% off the latest amember training package that explains how to add a forum to amember. If you need to learn how to do this for yourself or you want another way to market your VA skills, this is for you. Amember is one of the best ways to manage a membership site. Jump to the amember power series and use coupon code ASSOCIATE910. This coupon is only good until Sept. 15th so don’t wait to add more marketable skills to your business!

Even though I will get a commission on any sales from these links, I don’t put up links that I don’t believe in. These are deals from businesses I use, have used or know the owners personally and all the above.

First and foremost, if you are looking for some help to get your blog off and running or get a jumpstart after the kids go back to school, then look into the September Blogging Special.

Here is what people will get when they sign up for the September Blogging Special:

- Daily blogging tips, sent to your email from September 1 – 30

- Daily blogging prompts through the month of September. This will eliminate blogger’s block!

- Invitation only web chats throughout September. They will be able to get direct feedback from me on their blogging questions, as well as meet and network with other bloggers.

-And much more, including some big advertising chances.

Crissy is offering this incredible info for only $10. Her misfortune (need of a new car) is your gain. So take a look and see if it’s a good time for you to jump. Nope, this isn’t an affiliate sale for me, I just know Crissy really needs the help and it will be a great fit for so many of you.

Now on to some others that do have some affiliate links.

Publicity Boost -This is a mini-marketing plan that includes a press release, a customized media list, and a 60 day action plan to help people jump start their business, which is especially helpful after a long summer!

Black Friday Holiday Marketing Package – With this package, Crissy will help online business owners take advantage of Black Friday sales. Package includes a 30 min coaching call, a sales page, press release, 120 day action plan, a media list of 25 outlets, and an email that they can use to contact the media list.

Then the new thesis wordpress theme has been released and it is quite a versatile theme to begin with, let alone with some new features like header image and favicon uploader it’s super quick to customize even more. The Thesis Theme for WordPress

If you are into PLR then you don’t want to miss the latest release from Melissa Ingold on facebook marketing. It’s selling quick and only went on sale yesterday. In the 30 minutes it took me to quickly draft up this post, 25 more licenses were sold. It won’t last more than a couple days on the market I’m sure. Check it out and see if it’s a fit for your biz! 4-week Facebook Marketing Coaching Program/Course

Well unless you completely ignore everything I write, you know I absolutely love wordpress. I converted the last of my websites to WP about 2 years ago and it is all I personally work in now. The majority of my clients also use it or their first project for me is typically converting to wordpress. As with any medium it’s impossible for me to know everything. So I’m really looking forward to the Hot Seminar Series this year. It’s all about wordpress!

Just a few of the topics to be covered in this weekly series are choosing themes, security, branding, plugins and so much more.

This is a 9 week seminar filled with information.  The Hot Seminar Series has grown each year because of the incredible experts brought to the table.  This is not a pay as you go or an expensive series.  9 weeks of priceless information, with downloadable mp3′s to listen to as often as necessary and also video to watch later.  This way if you can’t make the wednesday night session’s you won’t miss out on the content!

Go get your subscription to the Hot Seminar Series and commit to learning and growing your business this summer.

It’s not easy because of the free info I was given way back when internet marketing began. We were all learning together. Unfortunately, my attention was in a different direction, but I did pay attention. lmbo I am using the information I learned all those years ago to put together my internet marketing now. I’ve used bits and pieces, but now it’s fully in residence.

Previously, if someone asked a question a longer email went out. I can’t give an exact for instance because they change so much. But I would literally give a response and most times it would be a few paragraphs long. I’m working on creating my wordpress help site that will answer many questions. It will also get some coaching set up. See, I’m using all the questions I get and answer to build my products. lol

However, nothing ticks me off more than someone that I give a very detailed answer to and they don’t do anything with it. I guess I will be thankful because they honestly could build a product with many of my answers. That right there says I’m giving away too much right?!

If I’m worried or even thinking that they could make money from my free information, then I need to re-evaluate immediately. I’m not saying I shouldn’t help, but I am saying I know I’ve hit my point I should have info set up to get a subscription from at the very least.

I need to value my information and I need to set a line. Setting that line is the hardest part. I guess building the lists would be a smart idea and then it’s easy to push those with questions to whichever autoresponder series or site would help them.

Helping is great and something I will always do, it’s in my nature. I just need to push all that help I’ve given out over the years to pay the bills. I guess this post can serve as notice that some great ecourses are on the way

I’ve been researching and analyzing what is holding me back. Fear? Frustration? Fatigue?

Those are the “F” words in Internet Marketing, at least according to my friend, Nicole Dean.

She says those three words are responsible for most of your struggles in your online business. I totally agree as they are the thing that holds me back. Automation is key and working smarter, not harder. To enjoy my time spent on work more.

Recently, Nicole teamed up with her friend, Ronnie Nijmeh, and they’ve put together a killer course for helping ANYONE to create their first info product. Info products are the ultimate in reoccurring income. You put your expertise to work once, do it correctly and then your automated programs will get the info to your clients.

They’ve put together reports, videos, worksheets, and will even be hosting Q&A calls, too.

But, she and Ronnie both know that that’s not enough for a lot of marketers. You’ll still let those three words stop you. So, they’re going to be offering personal one-on-one private coaching, as well. You can ask ANY questions about creating your info product and they’ll personally answer them. Have you used coaching from top marketers in your industry. Just one coaching session will change you business, let alone all that is being offered in this program.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Right now, you can’t sign up for their program. It’s not ready yet.

BUT…

You can grab a free report with some cool fables about success. It’s a quick read and it’ll make you think. (It did for me.)

Grab it here and run with this info.

When you go to get the Motivational Stories report, be sure to sign up to access their free call “Product Creation De-Mystified” where you’ll hear directly from Nicole and Ronnie and learn more about the benefits of creating your own info products.

Actually, Nicole and Ronnie challenged me to name ONE “guru” who doesn’t have an info product. Go ahead. Try it. Are you better than I am? Because I can’t name a single one. Info products make the impact on internet marketing.

Again, grab that report here:

http://www.plr.me/id/motivational-stories/busymomma

Only grab this report if you are ready to move ahead and make your sites/blogs work. Everyone is not always at the same place in business so it may not be the right time to get your info product launched and out there.

The art of doing business on the Internet has come a long way. Businesses large and small are doing more online, they are demanding more useful, exciting websites. There’s simply a lot more riding on today’s business websites than a collection of text and images. With that comes the increasing need for technically savvy help to manage it all and a smart, forward thinking VA should be sharpening her skills and offering services like these:

Backup – Far too often have I saved myself (and the clients), from hours of work putting things back as they were. You cannot rely on a web host all the time. To save space, web hosts only store backups for a very short period of time. And because restoration is not always part of their service, a host will usually restore the entire site when you may only need to restore one folder. Besides, some hosts are here today gone tomorrow. Or your client may have got tired of them.

Offering a backup and restoration service to your clients makes so much sense and it is often quite profitable for you since you don’t have to restore sites everyday nor every month for that matter. Backups can be put on autopilot and you can charge a recurring fee.

Software Update – So many web sites today run on open source software like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla. These are actively developed systems that move forward regularly and sometimes at a quick pace too. Every time you turn around it seems like the software needs to be updated.

Many clients don’t bother to update because they may be afraid of the consequences or just don’t know how. In the end, they either become victims of hackers or find themselves unable to proceed with their latest program because the software is outdated.

WordPress Hardening – Talking about open source software, WordPress is one of the hottest. There’s a great chance at least one of your clients are using to manage their website. But a popular software also means it is a big fat target for hackers who test it daily. Unfortunately, during setup, many designers and even VA’s do not take the time to secure it. Much of the default settings remain which make it easy for anyone to exploit.

We’re not talking about making a security guarantee to your clients – no software is that iron clad, but there are things that one can do to make WordPress more resistant. Sell that to your clients. This is a great way to earn extra from existing clients and bring in some money when things are slow.

Operating Procedure Wiki – You might already have heard of it. Create systems. Reproducible steps that anyone in the organization can take and run with. It make sense. Systems make your work faster – even if you already know it like the back of your hand, having checklists on hand can help remind you of steps you may miss regularly. Also, training new help becomes easier.

Many clients know this but are just way too busy. What you can do is not only document the knowledge, but set up a search-able, easy to use archive like a Wiki. In the long run it will help you too since you are likely to have more than one client, you may not remember all the steps you have to complete on a task that is not often repeat.

Enhanced Help Desk – You could already be the ‘voice’ behind your clients’ help desk right now. That’s great! If you enjoy it and want to win more clients in that area, why not offer an enhanced help desk service? What is that?

Some clients have multiple points of contact that can slow the customer service process down or cause confusion for customers because it may not be clear where to get help. The best thing is to pull everything together into one help center where people can find answers to frequently asked questions and initiate contact. It takes some planning and a bit of email routing and you can be the one to pull this together for your clients.

Take it a step further. Host the help desk software yourself for ‘free’ as part of the contract with your client. Many clients do not want yet another software for them to maintain. If the software can be part of your agreement, it absolutely makes sense for them. And, they would probably stay longer because if they break the contract with you, that means they have to source and purchase the software and setup. All of which takes time and money – valuable resources that the client may prefer to save.

What do you think? Is there any service here that you can implement right away? Maybe you want to but do not know how to start. After all, these are somewhat technical and you may not consider yourself technically inclined. There’s good news. Tech stuff is a lot easier than most make it out to be. You just need the right type of help, like what you can expect over at TechBasedTraining.com.