Reporting on my work-at-home experience, I can say I’ve finally become more comfortable using Twitter.  I’ve made many friends, developed a sizable following, and have received a Twitter Grade of 97 from Twitter Grader!

Micro-blogging is a good thing and using Twitter makes it even better. However, Twitter will never take the place of a blog. The bottom line is that Twitter is not a full fledge blog. It is simply a way for you to get your words out to the masses in a more expedient manner. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons Twitter will never replace a blog.

The number one reason why Twitter can never replace a blog is because you can only post up to 140 characters at any one time. There’s just no way to squeeze 1,000 words into such a small space. Not to mention, trying to send 7.14 tweets back to back, will not go over well with your followers. There is nothing like a person who tweets excessively. Doing so will cause you to lose followers and your goal with Twitter is to gain a friends not turn people away. You want Twitter to be tool that leads to your platform – your blog – the place where you share your story, product, or business.

Another reason why you can never replace your blog with simple tweets is because you just don’t have the same control to customize. Sure you can create a profile that says something about you but not the way you can with your blog. For example, here’s my About Me page where I go into detail about who I am, and why I blog. With a blog you can also customize the whole kit and caboodle. You can add tools, plug-ins, and even more networking opportunities through your blog.   I have links to the various forums and social networking sites I can be found participating on ~ Mom Bloggers Club, Twittermoms, Mom Masterminds, etc.  You can’t do all that with Twitter alone.

Then we have the website name issue. You can’t attach a domain to twitter. My domain is Moomettesgram’s Musings. I also try to use Moomettesgram as the moniker for all the forums in which I participate.

On Twitter you will always be www.twitter.com/whateveryournameis and that is it. Your username or extension is how people will recognize you on Twitter, but it’s not the same as a domain name for an entire website. In essence, Twitter owns your profile, not you.  But your domain name – now that’s all yours.

If you’re an affiliate marketer or belong to many of the wonderful websites that offer coaching resources, you want to talk about what you are promoting and, as was stated earlier, you only have 140 characters to say what you really want to say. That’s not as effective as a blog post or blog series that can send the message more effectively. That’s just one more reason Twitter can never replace a blog.

Don’t try to replace your own blog or website with twittering. Instead, learn to use Twitter as an effective tool that makes people want to learn more about you. Your blog is where you get down to the nitty-gritty and allow people to become more knowledgeable about your life, your product, service or whatever it is you are promoting.

Want to know what I’m doing?  Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/moomettesgram

Get Organized and Profitable for 2009

Free Planning Calendar: This planning calendar is a comprehensive printable planner that can help you organize and plan your business or e-commerce site for more profitability, less stress and even…less work!

Here’s a great freebie that I just heard about and wanted to be sure to pass on to you. If you’re looking to have a more focused, profitable and stress-free 2009 (it’s closer than you think), hurry on over to download it.

It’s put together by Alice Seba, an exceptional Entrepreneur when it comes to running an efficient and profitable online business. She’s put together a printable planning calendar that shows you exactly how to plan out your year to keep a steady income without breaking your back.

Interestingly, it’s called a “Planning Calendar”, but what you’ll be receiving for free is really is a full planner system that you can print out and adapt to your own unique business. It’s a definite must-have and I’ve already grabbed mine.

Get yours with no opt-ins or strings attached HERE.

My one year Blog Anniversary is coming up in about one month ~ and I’ve learned so much in that period of time ~ I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone by.

During that period, I’ve tweaked my online businesses tremendously.  I’ve dropped many affiliate programs and shut down some online business ventures that were just time zappers and getting me nowhere.  Two areas that are still profitable for me are my eBay Store ~ Moomette’s Magnificents, and my newly redesigned CAM Virtual Assistant Services websites.

If you’re a WAHM do you ever feel like you’re working so hard in your online business, but the outcome isn’t changing to match all that effort?

It might just be time for some serious clean up.

It happens to all of us. We build and build and build, and then suddenly we’ve got all this virtual real estate out there. Problem is, we aren’t quite sure what to do with it all or how to leverage our hard work for maximum profitability.

Thankfully, Alice Seba (one of my favorite Internet marketing teachers) has come up with the perfect solution and it’s called: “Spring Cleaning to Maximize the Profitability of Your Online Business.”

This isn’t some flimsy eBook or 10-minute video, but rather a 6-week intensive step-by-step coaching program. It’s designed to help you clean out all the extra stuff that you’ve accumulated, identify and make the most of what’s working in your business and planning for long-term success. You’ll get to work directly with Alice week-by-week and apply these strategies directly to your own unique business. We’re not just talking theory here. You’re going to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, but in a very good way!

See, I’m really excited about this because Alice is the real-deal. She speaks from true experience in her own successful online business. Just the other day, a lady named Rhonda, left an impromptu comment on her blog stating:

“I simply love Alice Seba. I love the way she runs her business. I love her ideas and most of all I love her being my mentor to how I want my business to run. Thank you Alice for your hard work. Can’t wait to keep getting your emails!”

That’s exactly what you get when you work with Alice.   Imagine how much ground I would have gained if I had known about this course before!

If you could use some hands-on help with your Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning, get over to the coaching information page right away. Registration is limted.

Find out more and claim your spot now at: Spring Cleaning Coaching.

Still on the fence? In all my time talking with and working with other online business owners, I’d say one of the biggest barriers to true success is a lack of focus. It keeps us from doing well with any one thing and can cripple us with the stress of having too much going on.

It’s no wonder. The Internet is a source of many distractions and so many ideas that we can easily become overwhelmed with all the little projects we are contemplating or already have on the go.

I know, I’ve been there too. I think we all have and that’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Alice was offering the 1st lesson of her ultra-successful Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning Coaching …FOR FREE!

There’s no obligation of any kind and you don’t even have to give up your email address to get it. She just posted the download links to her blog.

If you are dying to clear out some of the clutter from your online business to boost profits, get your first lesson “Taking Your Business Inventory” right here.

As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to finish my own inventory. It’s definitely an eye-opener and the first step to a super-focused new year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Keeping Things Simple for Entrepreneurs

Local Virtual Assistant Shares Tips

Wethersfield, Connecticut –September 10, 2008 – Answering phones. Reviewing emails. Billing customers. Updating websites. For many entrepreneurs, the daily grind of running a business is getting in the way of doing business. But according to one local virtual assistant, a small business owner can focus on profitable business tasks by simplifying their to-do list.

“Most entrepreneurs didn’t start their business thinking about all the time wasters they would need to do to keep the business running,” says Cynthia Matthews, owner of C A M Paralegal Virtual Assistant Services in Wethersfield. “By outsourcing those things to a virtual assistant, you will reduce stress – and focus on work that actually brings in money.”

Virtual assistants (VAs) are professional office assistants who provide office services and support without being physically present by using the Internet, fax, and telephone. Since much of their work is done online, they can work locally or globally. Founded in 2008, C A M Paralegal Virtual Assistant Services offers a variety of services including :

Basic Services-

* Data Entry

* E-mail Management and Drip Campaigns

* Bulk Mailings

* Basic Word Processing

Professional Services-

* Document Creation

* Proofreading and Editing

* Mail Merge

* Basic Transcription

* Online Calendaring and Scheduling

* Advertising Assistance- online and offline

* Online Task Management w/E-mail Reminders

* Ordering Client Gifts and Scheduling Delivery

* Customer/Client Follow-up incl. Satisfaction Surveys, Thank you Cards/Correspondence, Postcards, etc.

Specialized Services

* Internet Research

* Blog Posting, Forum Posting, Forum Moderation

* Press Release Creation and Submission

* Newletter/E-Newsletter creation and distribution

* Power Point Presentations

Premier Services

* Blog Setup, Monitoring and Maintenance- Wordpress or Blogger

* Drafting of Legal/Real Estate Documents

* Human Resource Services- Posting job opening ads online and newspapers, organization of resume receipts, initial contact with applicants, scheduling of interviews, follow-up correspondence with applicants, etc.

• Event Planning & Coordination

According to Matthews, the benefits of outsourcing to a qualified VA are plentiful. VAs only charge for actual time worked. VAs use their own equipment so there is no wear and tear on your office equipment, nor is there a need for special equipment.

Matthews offers the following steps to discover what to outsource:

Figure out what your time is actually worth. “Whether you bill hourly or not, you need to start by figuring out how much your hourly rate is,” says Matthews.

Assess how many hours you are spending on non-revenue generating tasks. She suggests taking a few days and actually writing down every task done, and how long it takes to do. “Once you have this task/time list, look at which items are helping you build revenue,” she says. Usually reading/answering emails, answering phones, scheduling, etc., do not generate income.

Calculate how many more billable hours you can have. “Take your non-revenue generating tasks and times and multiple them by what you estimate your time is worth,” she says. “Most people are quite surprised by the amount of money that they are ‘using’ up.”

Find a VA to do those tasks. “Delegating those tasks to a VA is cheaper in the long run, and allows you to spend more time working on building your business,” says Matthews.

For more information on organizing and delegation, contact Cynthia Matthews at: paralegalvirtualassistant@gmail.com

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Contact: Cynthia Matthews

Paralegalvirtualassistant@gmail.com

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As a Baby Boomer, I’m trying to get my “ducks in a row” and develop a supplemental source of income for my pending retirement.

As a professional Paralegal for over 30 years, I established CAM Virtual Assistant Services.

Recently I was interviewed by the Connecticut Law Tribune, and I’m very excited and would like to share that interview with you. You can read the entire article HERE.

Currently I’m in the process of having a new web-site makeover, and switching to a new host for my Virtual Assistant site, so stay tuned!

If you think being a Work At Home Mom is something you’d like to do and and are looking for information on starting a  Virtual Assistant Business; are looking for a Guide to Writing for Pay, or perhaps a Proofreading Guide, check out these links or visit Moms Talk Network for more information on how to get going.

I’m open for business, so please stop on by and check out my services at Paralegal Virtual Assistant Services ~ I offer freelance Virtual Assistant Services for not only the legal specialty field, but also Administrative, Business, and Blog and Forum Maintenance.  I’m also available to assist you with eBay Listings and postings.

Hi everyone. I have a little Freebie for you all today!

I had a fabulous collection of eBooks that I was selling out of my eBay Store, Moomette’s Magnificents.

However, recently this year, eBay decided against allowing Store Owners to sell digitally delivered eBooks.

Therefore, I’ve moved all of my eBooks to my Olde Towne Shoppes site.

I’m sure many of you are trying to explore different ways to work at home, and earn a little extra money for your family or to put in your gas tank in today’s economy.  Have you been looking for information on how to become a Mystery Shopper ? Look no further ~ CLICK HERE.  This is even a great idea for many Baby Boomers or Seniors who are on fixed incomes, retired or like to shop!

I’m giving away a copy of Myrna Marshall’s Mystery Shopping Secrets to any of my readers who’d like more information.

Simply leave a comment on this post, or send me an e-mail with “Mystery Shopper” in the Reference. I’ll e-mail you the link code for a free Immediate Download. The book is in PDF format, so you’ll need Adobe Reader, which you can get for free here.

More eBooks in all categories available in my Shoppes Site!

Wow, I recently got approved and signed up for the social networking site SocialSpark!

This is going to be my first paid post about the site!

As all my faithful readers know, I’m trying to retire from my day job. Social Spark from IZEA gives me the opportunity to meet fellow bloggers, and helps to monetize my blog by enabling me to post for honest, reputable companies.

Similar to Pay-Per-Post, once your blog is approved, you can browse the marketplace and apply for any posting opportunities that you may be qualified for. When you submit your blog for approval, you can choose which categories you would like to qualify for to be shown on your blog.

What’s equally nice, is that Social Spark maintains a very high standard of ethics. This means:

* 100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
* 100% Transparency
* 100% Real Opinions
* 100% Search Engine Friendly

Since I am a WAHG with several online ecommerce sites, I try to give tips and promote my businesses through my blog. I’ve become an avid blogger, and the social aspect of Social Spark enables me to visit other bloggers, and leave and receive comments on my blogs and theirs. Here’s my profile that I’ve created so other bloggers can find and network with me.

Lastly, Blogging is becoming mainstream, and more and more people are looking towards bloggers to receive their news and garner new opinions. Advertisers are recognizing the value of this new social media, and taking the opportunity to create buzz for their products. It’s a way for advertisers to reach a whole new target market and generation of potential customers who are familiar with technology.

If you’re a stay-at-home Mom or Dad, Work-at-Home Mommy or Dad, or Baby Boomer such as myself looking for a supplemental source of income, or simply looking to reach out, network and explore new horizons, sign up for Social Spark now! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at all the benefits!

Here’s my disclosure policy that I’ve developed:

I’m delighted to announce that Kim, from What’s That Smell, has won my first Moomette’s Best WAHM Site Award!

Kim is one terrific gal, and I happened on her blog one day through Entrecard dropping. This mommy really has it together, and has only recently begun to blog.

Kim is actually part of a duo - as the URL is “Accidental Mommies,” but further goes on to describe the blog as:

We call ourselves “accidental” mommies because neither of us are typical mommy material. In fact, many years ago we used to joke that there were 2 kinds of women - “real girls” and “not real girls”. We fit into the “not real girls” category and were quite proud of it. As fairly successful women in a male dominated career field, we wore slacks instead of skirts, we shunned make-up and chick-flicks and were in many ways grown up tom-boys.

I belong to The Mom Pack, a terrific networking resource for WAHMs. Many of the Mom Packers have been inquiring about finding out information on working from home and doing Paid Surveys. (Kim said she’s applied to become a Mom Packer.)

What drew me to Kim’s blog intitially, was the fact that it had the most well-researched, credible series on Paid Surveys that I have seen. Here was a valuable list, and How-To, and surveys that an actual Mom had put together. She wasn’t attempting to get you hooked into anything, but rather, was laying out the groundwork for you to make your own decisions on the Survey for Profit process.

Additionally, Kim covers such topics as giveaways; funny stuff; mom resources; parenting; homeschooling; cooking and recipies - and just about anything else that you could want to know!

Please visit What’s That Smell ~ and I’m sure you’ll agree that this wonderful blog is well deserving of the Best WAHM Site Award as well as any awards that will be given to it!

I recently did a post about the sluggish economy and how it might affect businesses. I’m a Bronze eBay Power Seller, as well as an affiliate independent consultant for several companies, and recently formed a Virtual Assistant Services ebiz.

Whenever I package an item to ship to my eBay customers, I cross-promote my Shoppes site and the companies that I rep for and include my business cards.  In order to qualify to be a Bronze Power Seller, I have to sell a minimum of 100 items per month. That’s quite a few business cards that I hand out ~ and that’s just to my eBay customers alone!

Though various eBay forums and business forums I belong to, I found out about Vista Print. Vista Print is a once-stop source for all your promotional business needs. I get many of my company business cards for FREE! There’s a wide selection of nicely designed templates that you can customize to personalize your cards and make them ‘your own.’ There’s also the opportunity to upload your own logos to design your business cards. Vista Print has a category design for everything – boutiques, mineral makeup, spa, beauty, gardening services, house cleaning services – you name it, they have it!

Additionally, VistaPrint offers a wide array of very affordable printing services including:, checks, rubber stamps, announcements, and car magnets! They even offer window decals. You can customize all of their products to your liking!

Since many are free, I order often, and leave my card in  the establishments I patronize: local hairdresser; restaurants; banks; and also supply the whole family with cards to pass out to anyone they think might be interested in my businesses! Grow your business with Vista Print!

Here’s a FREE eBook to Download to see how Vista Print can help Grow Your Business:

Click on the Photo for Immediate FREE Download.

In my continuing quest to retire, I’ve recently become an Independent Consultant for Seriesse International.

This time I think I got it right. Seriesse International was established by Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, who is featured on HSN. Even though I’m a Baby Boomer, I’ve been using the Serious Skin Care products for years and years, and I can’t say enough about them! It doesn’t hurt that I’ve been blessed with pretty good skin genes… you should have seen my grandmother who lived to be 101. You would have thought she was in her 70s. These products will benefit people of all ages.

This is not a paid post. This is my honest opinion. I came across a banner on a WAHM forum that I belong to, and recognized Jennifer’s picture. Once I saw that there was an opportunity to become associated with her products, I jumped at the chance!

I have my own website, and now I can get my favorite products at a discount! The launch is recent, and from what I hear and understand, it is supposed to be B-I-G!

I’m glad I got in on the ground floor!

Visit today to see how to become an independent consultant and what it’s all about!

Many years ago, DH and I had the opportunity to see Carly Simon sing at ‘The Roof’ on Martha’s Vineyard. At the time, she owned the place out by the airport, and had her 2 young children there that night. I still get goose bumps remembering it, and have always been a fan of hers.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of inner reflection lately ~ so I’m coming around again. I’m discovering I like being a Boomer, and being able to say what I want to. We paved the way for our daughters. I’m so happy that they can be who they are today, because of what we pushed for. Happy Mother’s Day to our daughters and granddaughters. It’s our Boomer present to you ~ You Go Girl.

I’m still signing up trying to gain a little supplemental income by taking surveys. My opinions still matter. I will not give up in my attempts to retire. I’m a Boomer. We do not quit.

Strength In Numbers: Boomer Women
By Lauren Hobson

Yes, the Baby-Boomer generation has been influencing everything in our culture ever since someone first coined the phrase. From a marketing perspective, watching this generation get older has provided us with some fascinating information, including how powerful the “women-over-50” group has become.

Women in their 50s today are in their prime. They are healthier, wealthier, and carry more influence than any other generation of women in history. So from a marketing perspective, this is a very appealing demographic for many industries. These women have both money and the time to spend it!

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Boomer Women will increase an amazing 52% in the workforce over the next few years. By 2010, there will be about 10.1 million women age 55 and older in the workforce, up from 6.4 million in 2000. Now that’s a lot of purchasing power!

So as you continue to market your products and services, make sure you are including Boomer Women in your target groups. They play a huge part in almost every big-ticket market (travel, real estate, financial services, technology, automobiles, home improvement, etc.), and will continue to do so for the next two decades. Boomer Women today are healthy and vital, and you can keep your business that way too by paying attention to this very strong, very large group of influential consumers.

Lauren Hobson is the Editor of Biz Talk Newsletter, a free monthly publication designed to provide small businesses and non-profits with tips and techniques to help them make the most of their web sites and marketing efforts without spending a lot of money. Biz Talk is published by Five Sparrows, LLC.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com