Here Comes Peter Cottontail ~ Healthy Easter Basket Ideas

Wow! I can’t believe Easter’s not that far away ~ I haven’t even picked out my Easter Bonnet yet for this year! But DD already has ‘Lil Moomette’s outfit all put together and I can’t wait to see her in it! I love looking back at the mandatory photos in front of the house where they have their cute little hats & coats on holding their baskets. Matter of fact, last year was Moomette’s first Easter, and I now have yet another memory of my girls, Moomette & charming SIL added to the photo album!

Each year is a challenge trying to come up with unique ideas. Over the years, some of my brainbusters for age-appropriate baskets have included ~ college shower caddies filled with bath goodies & scents; SIL’s favorite team ~New York Yankee wastebasket filled with goodies ~
Baby Gap summer hats turned upside down filled with more pretties ~
ice bucket & tongs ~ filled with first-time homeowner goodies~ stainless steel roasting pan filled with tempting food items.

What to do this year? Now that I’m a WAHM independent sales consultant for CREATE A CAN ~ there’s so many adorable unique personalized containers to choose from! Check them out -Fill them yourself, or order one filled! Order by March 5th for Easter items!

Healthy Easter Basket Ideas – By: The Menu Mom

Easter baskets don’t have to be full of chocolate and peeps. Here are some great ideas that will fill your Easter basket without all the extra fat and sugar.

Bubbles
What child doesn’t love to blow bubbles? Grab a couple of bottles of bubbles for this year’s Easter basket. The kids will have a blast with them and with a little luck it will be warm enough outside to keep them busy and running around chasing bubbles for quite some time.

Sidewalk ChalkAnother fun treat is sidewalk chalk. This is the perfect time to draw on the sidewalk with the weather warming up. Plus we get enough rain in the spring that your driveway or sidewalk won’t be decorated for too long.

Homemade PlaydoughMake some playdough using your favorite homemade playdough recipe (we have one at http://www.kinderinfo.com). Get a couple of small playdough toys to go along with it and let the fun begin.

Toys from the Dollar StoreYou can also pick up some very inexpensive toys at the dollar store. I have found anything from Easter themed coloring books to kites in there. This is also a great place to shop for the Easter baskets themselves, as well as some plastic Easter eggs that are great for hiding small trinkets and treats.

Of course every child should have some special treats in the Easter basket as well. Along with the obligatory chocolate bunny, include some healthier treats.

Chocolate and Yogurt Covered Raisins
Both chocolate and yogurt covered raisins look like little mini Easter eggs and are a yummy treat. Fill a small cellophane bag with these sweet treats and tie a pretty bow around it.

Trailmix with JellybeansMix some low sugar cereal like Chex, or Cheerios with some small pretzels, peanuts, raisins, and some jellybeans for an Easter inspired Trail Mix. You don’t have to feel bad about your kids filling up on this. Pour your trail mix in a small bag, or fill some large plastic Easter eggs with the mix.

Easter baskets don’t have to be full of chocolate and peeps. Here are some great ideas that will fill your Easter basket without all the extra fat and sugar.

CLICK HERE to enjoy weekly healthy menu plans delivered to your inbox every week. CLICK HERE for family friendly weekly meal planning.

Article Source: http://www.thewahmshack.com/articled

Related Reading:

Graces Kitchen

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WAHM eBiz Tip # 1 ~Giving Your Home Based Business a Boost with Blogging

So many things to do! Sometimes don’t you feel like you don’t know what to do first? I have a list that I’ve put together of all the suggested things I should be doing to in order to get all my ebiz’s up & running smoothly. But my plate is getting so full ~~ between trying to roll out fantastic new Spring Inventory for my eBay Store (you just have to see it all!) at Moomette’s Magnificents and changing over the host site for my
Moomette’s Magnificents Olde Towne Shoppes site.

Additionally, I’ve been entertaining the thought of starting another blog …where I can banter about daily trials & tribulations of family life, thereby separating it from my WAHM eBiz tips blog. In the meantime, here’s a heads-up for newbie WAHMs who have an Internet eBiz or Direct Sales Home Party Business and would like to gain more exposure for it:

Giving Your Home Based Business a Boost with Blogging by Tamara

Blogs are like ripe apples hanging on the tree ready to be picked, beautiful and oh so delicious. Indulging to it will never be a poison. . It can also be likened to a virus but the difference is the benefits blogs give and also because they are vastly and fast spreading around the globe.

That’s for the giants of the arena of business, but how about those smaller enterprises? Does blogs suit them? By all means, yes.

Small businesses or home based ones needs more blog than any other business. Since their business place is far off from the central marketplace, people need to be informed and be aware of the existence of these smaller enterprises through blogging. By means of blogging, these types of businesses are given chance to be known and be noticed.

To add to that, let us take these advantages of blogs for home based businesses:

»Blogs are all-you-need package. HTML is hard to learn and a little time consuming. By using blogs you will no longer problem the appearance since it is preset for convenience purposes.

»You can post anything on blogs without any hassle at all. Plus you can post anytime. Nonetheless, posting is not a problem.

»Since basically blogs are not e-mail communication, spam has no place in it.

With these entire advantages all for free means a business with high profits.

Remember you must update your blog every now and then. New updates mean another to look forward to on the side of your audience. In as often as possible, you may update your blog at least twice every week. It will let your audience ask for more. Never overlook all current information and issues that will surely catch their attention.

Your blog should have a place for comments, reactions and suggestions. It will help you reach the audiences tastes and desires through their own feedbacks. Criticisms are very essential tool for your websites growth. Just take every criticism positively.

Do not forget to link your blogs to other resources. It will help not just you and your business but also your customers.

Simplicity is not ugly. Complicated layout and color will attract customers easily and also can shoo them easily too. Always keep in mind that content is more important than anything else in your blog.

The entire earth is waiting for your business to be known. Take that mouse and make your own blog.

Tamara works from home and enjoys helping others do the same. For More tips and ideas on home businesses visit My Work at Home Business besure to sign up for the newsletter for great tips and ideas to work from home and a free chance at some great advertising.

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article

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HA ~ You Young’ns have Nothing on Me ~One Step Ahead of the Curve!

Ok. I haven’t done any musings in awhile because I’ve been too dang busy maintaining my eBay Power Seller status and putting all my ducks in order building my new website & consolidating my eBay store and affiliate shops under one roof ~ Moomette’s Magnificents Olde Towne Shoppes.

I know, after seeing all those terrific WAHM sites on various traffic exchanges that all you sweet young things have built, it’s probably a piece of cake for you. You probably took all that HTML stuff in elementary school, high school & beyond.

Well, gram here has been learning it all on her own. At 2, 3 & 4 am in the morning when DH is sleeping, and the house is finally peaceful. You see, I’m still working at my FT cubicle job. Then, of course, there’s ‘lil Moomette whom I pick up after I get out of work until DD or charming SIL come to get her.

Well, I’m taking a break right now at 2 am from all that Photobucket & listing stuff, finding a new web host for my site, and working on the new blog template (don’t you love it? Thanks Shera, from
Sweet N Simple Design…more on Shera to come. I met Shera through Mom Pack ~ she’s such a delight!

Anyway. Where was I? Oh ya. You young gals. Well, let me tell you. After having 2 DDs, and doing the middle school, high school & college thing with them ~ Moms will find out they always have to be ahead of the curve. Want to stay in touch? The cell phone that you pay for gets put on mute. Then what? Learn to text message. They’ll think it’s their friends.

Still ignoring you? Learn to instant message. When something pops up ~ they’ll think it’s their friends and guess what ~ it’s Mom~ Here’s my AIM avatar:

My girls had to look at that on AIM while they were in college everytime they “talked” to me ~ which was only when they usually ran out of funds. And my screen name…let’s just say it started with the word “Money”! Hmpf.I digress…DD #2, took Spanish all through high school. So knowing I’d be online, she once put up her “Away Message” in Spanish after telling me she was going to a friend’s house. The “Away Message” said she was “at the beach”. Guess what? I took Spanish in High School. So I played her game and text messaged her cell phone ~In Spanish ~ that I knew where she was! That floored her & her friends. Again, one step ahead of the curve. And don’t anyone call me out for reading her Away Message.

Back to you have nothing on me. So, I’ve learned to text, instant message, and now HTML, FTP, Pop Server, SSB, Ping, Stumble ~ what-ever. There’s still a lot of learning to do, but don’t worry, I’m a Boomer & one of ours invented the Internet. Gram here is ahead of the curve, and when I finish building my site, they will come.

It’s almost 2:30 am. I know I ‘talk’ via the forums with many of you at this time of night. But I’m taking out my dentures, putting them in a glass, (thanks Suzanne) & turning off the lights now. (JK on the denture part, K?)

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Take Advantage of PLUGBOARDS ~ Free Advertising for your WAHM eBiz & eBay Store Sites

Today is PLUGBOARD Day ~ the day I visit all the sites I have plugs on. In an earlier post, I spoke of the benefits of advertising your site through Plugboards. You submit your usually 88 x 31 banner or larger to the boards, and when it falls off rotation, plug again!

Starting out & don’t have a banner yet? Get one at Ready Banner for Free, or a nominal charge for custom work!

I do this once a week, as I maintain a list of all the sites I have plugged my various businesses, eBay Store and Moomette’s Magnificents Olde Town Shoppes site on.

Want a terrific Plugboard that’s hosted by a WAHM site? I know some folks use the free Plugboard hosting sites – I did too for a bit, until I found the site was usually down. But you usually get what you pay for. Then I came across WAHM PLUGBOARD Hosting, and I am sooo happy! For a nominal annual fee, I get all the benefits of a dashboard that works, terrific up-time & support, and the best thing of all…WAHM PLUGBOARD includes

* Installation and hosting of your plugboard
* Your site listed in the plugboard clients list(found on the front page)
* AND your site’s banner will be added to their banner rotation for 3 months at no extra charge – a $10 value!

Check them out!

Such a good deal for such a reasonable annual fee! Come Plug YOUR site on my Plugboard!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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WAHMS & Affiliate Programs – The Advantages of being an Affiliate

Here’s a great tip. Do you purchase & use products often, such as Mineral Makeup? Say you have a whole group of friends who are about to have babies – need a special Baby Shower Gift or Announcement? Maybe you’re in to crafting? Need to generate some additional income for yourself or the household? Becoming an Affiliate for a company is an excellent way to save yourself some money on the products you normally use, or even find some great boutique sites run by WAHMs that are so unique compared to the typical chain mall sites.Another advantage of being an affiliate is you can cross promote your businesses. For example, if you sell on eBay, if the company allows, you can become your own dropshipper by listing the products on eBay, order & dropship to your customers with your discount! You’re allowed to put up banners only on your About Me Page on eBay. Take a look at how I’ve done my page. Read on!
Affiliate Programs – The advantages of being an affiliate
by: Francois du Toit

Affiliate programs are becoming more and more popular as a fast-track way to start an internet business. These programs can offer huge advantages for affiliates, especially when they offer online training, support and marketing tools. There is a lot of money to be made if you join the right program.I am a strong believer in the value of affiliate programs and believe that the best way to start an internet business is to become an affiliate of another program or to join a network marketing company. Why? To learn as much as possible from your sponsor(s) and make use of all the free advice and tips you will receive from them.

When you are eventually ready to start your own business you will already have a lot of experience and knowledge (that you obtained for free!) that will give you a huge advantage and save you a lot of money and time.

By the way, there are many very successful internet marketers that earn all of their money through affiliate programs and network marketing programs.

If you find a great affiliate program where you can make a lot of money and you decide to stay with the company instead of starting your own new business then good for you! If on the other hand you want to start a new business of your own then you would have at least learned a lot from the affiliate program, and hopefully made some money as well in the process.

The biggest mistake people make is to jump all the time from the one affiliate program to the other without taking the time to learn and understand the program and system. There are many programs on the internet. If you are going to leave what you are busy with every time you think you have discovered a better program then you will never learn anything.

Take your time to learn and be patient. I can assure you that you will not become an overnight millionaire following any affiliate program. Like any other business it takes time to build a successful affiliate business, even with the support and training you may receive.

I tend to look at things very logically. If something does not make sense to me I rather avoid it.

Consider the following:

You develop a great product that you want to sell for $10 on your website. It might have costed you thousands of dollars to develop and many many months of hard work with no income while you were developing your product. You are finally ready to launch your product. Since you are only one person with one website you realize the need to establish an affiliate program where you can have hundreds of affiliates promote your company and get thousands of people to buy from you. In order to get affiliates interested you must pay them between 20% and 50% of your sales price or gross profit.

I don’t know about you but the above scenario looks like a lot of very hard work without any guarantee of success. The thought of it certainly does not get me excited.

Now consider the following – You join the above company as an affiliate and earn say 50% commission on all sales. You do not need to buy the product and have no investment in the company. You can start to sell the product from the 1st day you become an affiliate and make a lot of money. In fact, the company will make 50% and you will make 50%. You have no risk and can walk away from the program anytime you wish. What a pleasure! This is what I like the most from affiliate programs.

Remember that not all affiliate programs are good. Many of them only offer products that you would not want to give away for free to your mother-in-law. Furthermore, the support program and training offered is not always top quality.

I do not know about you but I cannot promote any product or service that I do not understand or do not believe in. You should always be able to sell the product to yourself. If you would not buy the product because you do not believe in it then please do not promote it to other people as the best product out there. You will sleep a lot better at night!

Remember that ultimately it is up to you to make a success of the program.

To your success !

About The Author

Francois du Toit is the owner of http://www.money-maker-advice.com, a website designed to help new entrepreneurs succeed by evaluating various online and offline business opportunities, affiliate programs and network marketing options. The website also offers free articles and tools that will assist webmasters in building profitable websites.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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CAFE MOMS ~ Join this Great Group for WAHMs & SAHMs for Networking & Friendship

I must tell you what a great group they have going over there at CAFE MOM! This is a super group for any WAHMs to network, or any SAHMs looking to make new friendships & share similar ideas. You can find Moms by geographical locations, or similar interests.

There’s many, MANY groups to join – I belong to several ~ I Want to Work at Home ~ Beauty Advice – Tips, Trends, and Techniques ~ Advertise your Ebay Items ~ Awsome Ebaying Women ~ eBay Moms & Grandmas ~ eBay Sellers ~ Cafe Mom Online Cookbook & a whole lot more! The eBaY groups are especially active.

Here’s a little background:

CafeMom is an online community created especially for moms. Thousands of moms have come together online to swap stories and advice on a huge range of topics, share photos, and connect with friends. CafeMom users each get their own homepage which they can customize to show off their personality. Plus, they can start public or private groups with other moms about common interests. Moms of all ages and beliefs are now meeting, conversing, and having fun at CafeMom.

Since CafeMom’s beta launch in November 2006, we have been outpacing a half dozen other competitors in the race to dominate the social networking space for moms and parents. We are the largest and fastest growing—get in on the action.

So stop on by at CAFE MOMS if you’re looking for some excitement & someplace new!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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CREATE A CAN Themed Gift Cans ~ Direct Sales Rep eBiz Opportunity SPECIAL

For any Moms or Grandmom’s looking to find a great ebiz or Direct Sales company to rep for supplemental income, CREATE A CAN is having a Membership Drive Special ~ but only until February 10th~

Run by a Mom, and there’s a very active YAHOO GROUPS page with all kinds of support.

I just ordered a Dancer’s Gallon Can for Moomette with her name personalized on it which is just too cute! They come in pint, quart & gallon size, & make great shower presents, party favors, baby gifts, graduation, wedding & whatever else you can think of!

BECOME A BUYER’S CLUB MEMBER SPECIAL

JOIN NOW FOR JUST $15 – Valid until February 10th, 2008
INCLUDES COMPLETE SET UP INTO CAC BUT NO PRODUCTS – PLEASE PURCHASE A KIT IF YOU WANT PRODUCTS.

Please go to the Buyer’s Club Page and fill out the form, purchase a membership or kit and we will get you enrolled where you can start saving and earning!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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YAHOO GROUPS ~ Trade Forums & Swap Groups are a Worthless Way to Shed Excess Inventory for eBay Store Owners or Meet Quota for Direct Sales Reps!

Do you have excess inventory in your eBay Store that you’d like to shed & make room for New Inventory?

Are you a Direct Sales Rep for a company & need to meet quota each month?

Trade Forums & Swap Groups are are not wonderful ways to move inventory & introduce your shops to new customers, while at the same time, aiding the economy in an ages-old method of “shopping.”

Here are some great groups that I recently joined to move some of my inventory from Moomette’s Magnificents on eBay and some of the companies I rep for to meet quota!

They’re all run by friendly WAHMs like us, and the members are a lively clicky bunch! There’s plenty more of these types of groups on YAHOO if you do a search!

Check them out & tell them I sent you!

Click to join Momsshop ~ Tell them Cindi sent you
Click to join ShopaholicsRUS ~ Tell them Cindi Sent You

Click to join coolshopping ~ Tell them Cindi Sent You



Click to join COTMshoppinggroup ~ Tell them Cindi Sent You

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RECYCLE~Think Green! Everyday Items Can be Reusable

Well, Super Bowl and all the parties are over. If you went to any, I hope you had a great time!

All that food & prep has me thinking. I’m thoroughly amazed by how often I find myself bringing yet another bag of trash to the garage!

Have to share this insightful article by Kandi Traxel – if you get a moment, pop over to her Shop With A Mom site for some great info!

Think Green! Everyday Items Can be Reusable
by Kandi Traxel

As the world aspires to become more “green”, my own household has jumped on the bandwagon. We recycle newspapers, shredded paper, plastic bottles and jugs, etc. Everything we can recycle we do recycle.

Many of the items that are used in our homes every day can be recycled. Paper, certain plastics, soda cans; the list goes on and on. But by the same token, many of those same items can be reused instead.

Here are just a few items that you use in your life everyday and the ways they can be reused:

Water Bottles
If your family likes bottled water, but you don’t like the cost, or you would like to find a way to keep those bottles out of the landfills (without overworking the recycling centers), then invest in a charcoal water filter for your kitchen faucet. While the filters will have to be replaced about every three months on average, you can still save money by installing it and refilling all those bottles. You can also refill soda bottles, sports drink bottles, even milk jugs with the filtered water.

Butter, Margarine & Whipped Topping Tubs
There are more uses for plastic butter and margarine containers than I could even begin to list! First of all they make great food storage! If you prefer to use your matching Tupperware for that, there are still a ton of reasons to keep these containers handy.

One of the best ways to reuse these containers is for mixing. I use them for cake & muffin mixes, pancake mixes and even pudding. Just pour in your measured ingredients, put the lid on and give it a good shake. Pop the lid off and pour! You can even give them a bit of a squeeze forming a “spout” to make your mix pour out smoothly! This makes cooking & baking super easy and it’s a great way to reuse the containers over and over again.

I also like to use the 3-pound sized tubs for coatings! Make super easy chicken nuggets! Mix up your favorite coating recipe, drop in your chicken chunks and shake, shake, shake! You can do this with any type of coating!

The small, one-pound tubs are perfect for mixing paint, for holding homemade play dough, for sorting beads, and many, many, many other uses! You are limited only by your imagination on what you can do with these handy little containers!

Plastic and Glass Jars
Many companies are now using plastic rather than glass jars. I reuse plastic peanut butter jars to store my homemade sauces and salad dressings. Some brands of spaghetti sauce use very nice decorative glass jars that are perfect for refilling with gift mixes! You can find gift mix recipes with a quick internet search. Top the jars off with a piece of fabric, cut with decorative shears, or use a lace doily and thread a delicate ribbon through it. Tie it on the jar lid and you are all set with a beautiful hand made gift!

My husband likes to reuse jars in the garage for nuts, bolts, stray nails and more! He fastens the lids of the jars to the underside of wooden shelves, fills the jars with the tiny items and then screws the jar up into the lid. They hang there, freeing up shelf space and since they are clear, it is easy to see what they contain!

Baby Wipe Containers
You can buy refill packs for just about every brand of baby wipes. Save the containers and refill them. If you find you still have too many of these handy plastic containers, use them for just about any small item you can think of. They are washable and stackable, and they are perfect for crayons, colored pencils, markers, hair clips, sponge curlers, cotton balls, cotton swabs; the list goes on and on! Use them in the bathroom, the nursery, the garage or even the home office!

Plastic Grocery Store Bags
There are many, many great ways to reuse the plastic bags you get at the grocery store!

I have little trash cans all over the house. I like to have one in each room so that when I am in that room and need to toss something out, I don’t have to go into another room to do it. With all those little garbage cans around, I need small liners. Instead of spending the money on new liners, I reuse my plastic grocery bags. They are a perfect fit!

We also save them up and use them when we hold garage sales. They are perfect to hold your customer’s purchases, or to wrap breakable items.

These bags make great packing for shipping too! Whether it is for business or you are shipping gifts, they will cushion your items and get them there safely! And unlike newspapers, you don’t have to worry about ink rubbing off and staining your packed items!

Canvas Totes
If you find you have a surplus of the grocery store “can liners”, invest in a few basic canvas tote bags. You can pick these up at craft stores, in a myriad of sizes for very little. Use them when you shop for groceries, books, office supplies (or just about anything else) and ask the check out clerk to bag the items in your totes. Give them as gifts and encourage others to do the same thing!

Plastic Meat Trays
Plastic meat trays come in just about any size, from packaging for a single steak, to a large family pack of ground beef. I have reused plastic meat trays to sort all types of things! Outgoing mail, small toys, art supplies; the list goes on and on. And they fit great on shelves! Just wash them out and they are ready to go! The small ones are perfect for organizing the home office!

Foaming Hand Soap Bottles
Why buy a new bottle of foaming hand soap every time you run out? Those can be refilled with just about any type of soap, body wash or bath gel! For an 8 oz foaming hand soap bottle, refill with 2 oz (1/4 cup) of liquid soap, and 6 oz of water. This will save you a ton of money on buying a new bottle each time, and will help keep them out of the landfills!

Magazines
While magazines are a recyclable product, they also make it a lot less boring when sitting in the doctor’s or dentist’s office! Call around and ask the local clinics if they would be willing to take them off of your hands. You can also try nursing homes. And don’t forget all those Highlights for Children or National Geographic for Kids! If they aren’t badly beat up or written in, your local children’s shelter would probably love to have extra reading material for the kids in their care!

Make an artistic statement!
Art teachers at your child’s elementary school are always looking for donated things like cardboard paper towel and toilet paper rolls, juice containers, milk and egg cartons, colored paper, and much, much more! Call your child’s school and ask what types of things you can save to donate to the art program!

There are so many things that we can reuse in our homes if we just take the time to think about it and get creative! So the next time you get ready to toss something in the trash, instead ask yourself how you might reuse it! You never know what innovative ideas you can come up with!

Now if we could just find a good use for dryer lint!

————
Kandi Traxel is a WAHM and the owner of Shop With a Mom http://www.shopwithamom.com and A Love of Coffee http://www.aloveofcoffee.com

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Online Marketing Strategies for Home Based Businesses

I’ve been busy, busy lately! My DD, Moomette’s mom, is not only between jobs, but is expecting her second child in August! She say’s that although she & DH will find out ahead of time whether it’s a girl or boy, she’s not planning on letting us know until the baby’s born, so it’ll be a “surprise.” Ha. If it’s a boy, I bet I’ll be writing about it here sooner than the arrival date!

In the meantime, I’ve put all my “venture”s under one roof and you can see them all at MOOMETTE’S MAGNIFICENTS OLDE TOWN SHOPPES.
I’m employing many of the wonderful techniques that Betsy, over at Smart Moms shares. A great way to empower & market your WAHM eBiz. Come exchange Links with me and PLUG your site!

Online Marketing Strategies for Home Based Businesses

If you own a home based business, more than likely you are looking for creative ways to market your business. Thankfully with the internet, there is a whole online world just waiting for you! By creating an online marketing strategy you can essentially market your business for free and drive traffic to your site. And the great part is that most of these routes are few and don’t require a lot of time or effort.

Here are just a few simple ways to market yourself and your business online!

Blogs: A great way to get started is simply to start a Blog. A blog is completely free and is a glorified online journal. Blogger and Wordpress are two of the more popular hosts. Look around and see what you like and then just get started. Keep in mind the goal of your blog. Is it to promote yourself, your business or simply to talk about your daily life? You can start out slowly by just posting a couple times a week, however, if you really want to utilize your blog as a resource for traffic, make it a goal to post something worth reading on a daily basis.

Forums: Forums have become an increasingly popular way to network with other people. There are thousands to choose from, so just start looking. Whether you go to Yahoo and type in groups or Google “forums”, you will be amazed at what you find. Try to find groups that will allow you to promote your business as well as gain insight and knowledge from others. It might take a while to find a good fit, but don’t give up. A good forum can be an excellent resource for you when you’re first getting started as well as an excellent tool once you’re established!

Articles: The purpose of articles is to drive more traffic to your site or blog. To do this, you simply write an article on any subject, include your bio with links and then submit them to various article submissions sites. Once accepted, your article will be on these sites for anyone to read or use for their site, blog, eZine or other publications. Whether your article is viewed by curious readers or is published on other sites, the traffic you generate can be very rewarding.

Since articles are a free resource, be sure to write articles often. Make it a goal to write at least one a week, if not more. Post them on several different article submission sites and then site back and watch your hits and sales go up!

Blogs, forum, and articles are just a few simple ways to start generating traffic and creating a presence online. All three are simple and free ways that you can begin to target a cold market on a daily basis; reaching potential customers from around the country and world! If you begin to focus daily on these three sources for marketing, you will quickly start to see your traffic increase. Be consistent and offer helpful information and you will surely see your sales increase!

Betsy Canevari is a Work at Home mom with a toddler. Her passion is to help other women learn how to make money by working at home. For more great tips for marketing online, visit her Work at Home site.
_________________
Betsy Canevari
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