Continuing my little expose on how I’m doing in wally world as a WAHM, I’m going to further expound on my adventures in Twitterville.

First, I’m going to say this work-at-home Gram from Dysfunction Junction, CT is finding it’s a ton of fun ~ I enjoy getting the little pop-ups on Twitterfox, and getting to know the personalities of all my Tweeps.  While working late at night, I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the Olympics.  However, there’s one gal who updates regularly, every 10 minutes or so, on what exactly has been going on!  She’s so entertaining (besides being the author of a terrific blog, Send Chocolate, that I suggested last night that she bottle all the commentary on the Olympics into an eBook!

But I digress.  Seriously, Twitter is an excellent platform for micro-blogging and marketing your product, be it a blog, service, eBay store or mission.

If you find yourself in a position that you need to understand your target customer as well as keep up with various ways of marketing to those potential customers, Twitter is one of the most powerful and popular tools out there right now!  This new type of network communication has been taken up by companies and individuals alike in recent months and for good reason.

To get a better understanding of Twitter, let’s first take a look at the format.  Essentially, Twitter is a program that allows you to make very small, public posts.  Because these posts are so limited (they max out at 140 characters) they can easily be sent to a number of different locations all at once.  When you have written a Twitter, it can appear on the twitter website, on short message services, instant messaging sites or even on third-party applications like Facebook or Twitterific.  Folks can even add a script to their blog or website to show their most recent posts and the posts of others!   I have a blue widget box on my right sidebar.   Your Twitter messages, also known tweets, will appear to anyone who has chosen to follow your updates.

There are several advantages to this type of communication.  The first thing that you’ll discover is that it allows for a much more immediate relay of information.  The shortness of the message forces you to be very brief, and this alone can create interest in those reading.  Because tweets are so short, they often lead to frequent posting, which is excellent when you’re looking to communicate with people and to get to know them.  While Twitter is, by default, public, you can restrict the people who see your material with the ease of checking a box in your profile.

Actually, although I rarely have to do this, last night and so far tonight have been the exception.  I believe it’s a full-moon this week, and true to form, the crazies are coming out of the walls.  I, along with a few of  my fellow Tweeps, have had to block several people.  If these folks have a trillion people that they’re following, and only 1 or 2 followers of their own and no website listed - that’s a sure sign of a Spammer or bored teen, and an instant BLOCK.  But don’t let that discourage you.  It happens in e-mail programs too.

You’ll find that not only can you post tweets, you can also receive them.  Once again, the immediate nature of this service lends greatly to its appeal.  Want to follow someone’s updates and see what they are up to with their business or life in general? Simply sign into your Twitter account, type in their Twitter address or username and click the “Follow” button.  That’s all there is to it!

The amount of time that’s spent reading the messages is very short, and you can be in contact with people a great deal more than you otherwise might be. In essence, you can get to know each other much more quickly than if you were just reading each others blogs or profiles.  The look and feel of an instant messaging service helps add to this ability.  Think about it for a minute, do you feel more connected to those on your messenger list than the blogs you read? Twitter is the same way.

I used Twitter extensively this week with my website designer for my Virtual Assistant website.  We both are on Twitter and when I sent her an e-mail either responding to her design questions, or making suggestions on the site design myself, I sent her a Tweet to let her know that ‘you’ve got e-mail.’  Simple!

For many, whether they’re looking for friends, clients, or someone to help them out with a problem or workload, getting in touch with others is important.  With Twitter it’s never been easier!

Don’t forget to Follow Me!

Do you sell on eBay, or are you an eBay Store owner or Boutique Shop Owner?  I belong to the Auction Sellers Motivators forum ~ a great source of information for ebay Sellers.  It helps me tremendously with my Moomette’s Magnificents eBay store, where I’m a Power Seller.

Businesses Growing Together would like to invite all ASM members to participate in their Holiday Specials and Discount Offers online discount pages.

The holidays will be coming upon us fast! This is an ideal opportunity for all of us to collaborate in promoting our stores though our 2008 Holiday Shopping Directory. This is completely FREE advertising and promotion! Everyone who owns an online store is welcome to join!

BGT has made it easy for you to register. Simply go to http://www.businessesgrowingtogether.com/Discount/1

and click on the form to submit to participate in this event. Feel free to click around the site and see all the stores that are currently registered by store name and by category.

BGT has made it easy for participating stores to promote this event by providing a short URL to pass on to shoppers – www.Savings-Online.com

BGT is also providing several different size banners and buttons along with the coding needed for participates to post in forums, emails, blogs and where ever else they want to promote the 2008 Holiday Shopping Directory.

Online store registration is open now. The 2008 Holiday Shopping Directory will open to shoppers on September 15, 2008. They are anticipating 200+ stores to be in the directory then so register early.

Awhile back I wrote about how Baby Boomer Gram is trying to keep up with technology and the times.  You can read my post here.

As a mom of then teenagers, and now young adults, I’ve had to learn to use AIM Instant Messenger to keep in constant contact; then I had to learn how to text message on my cell if I wanted to know if the kiddos were still alive, and it goes on and on.

My latest feat is that now I am …. Twittering!  Even my kids don’t Twitter, yet  ~ so I’m ahead of the curve here!

Here’s a great tip for WAHM moms, or any online ebiz, or ebay store owner.

Would you like to earn auto-pilot commissions every time you post to your blog? And at the same time use the Power of Twitter to drive massive amounts of traffic to your blog.

I know it sounds like a fairy tale, but it just became reality, with the launch of John Merrick and Soren Jordansen’s new “Tweet My Blog“.

Just by using the powerful free plugin, you will be promoting your affiliate link on auto-pilot. In other words, you can earn commissions just for posting to your blog.

But that’s just one of the many benefits of using TweetMyBlog, visit the page to learn more - and grab your free copy today.

And… Even though they are giving this plugin away for free, you should take a close look at the special offer they have in store for you when join. I instantly grabbed my own copy, and I know it will skyrocket my marketing power when using Twitter and Wordpress.

I don’t know if they’re are going to keep this free forever, I certainly feel they could start charging big bucks for it. So, grab your copy today, while it’s still free - and start using it before you competition does!

As a small internet business owner, I’m always looking for ways to maximize my exposure on the web. Recently I came across Network Solutions. This is a company that specializes in helping small businesses start and market their businesses on the Web. In addition to domain name registration, they offer Web site design and hosting, e-commerce solutions, online security products, and search engine marketing and optimization.

Through Webinars and Seminars, Network Solutions explores issues such as pay-per-click and search engine optimization techniques, and provides practical knowledge about strategies, tactics, and solutions for marketing online. Network Solutions has designed all of these resources to lead, guide, and teach small business customers how to succeed online.

Network Solutions also offers ideas to small business owners for improving business practices in ways many may not have even thought or known possible. The events also provide opportunities for small business owners to network with one another and learn from each other.

If you’ve been downsized or outsourced, you might be interested in network solutions jobs. etwork Solutions is looking for bright, talented team players! They’re looking hard to locate talented, passionate, and dedicated people who want to build and grow their careers with a company like Network Solutions®. Perks include a comprehensive health and welfare benefits program, Matching 401K program as well as Flexible Spending Accounts.

Check them out ~ Network Solutions is there to help you any way they can!

In a previous post I mentioned how I’m an infamous list maker. I think it’s safe to assume that most women probably are. I have all kinds of lists ~ for my cubicle job, household lists, my eBay store, online boutique Shoppes site ~ even a Bucket List!

My next top priority is to make an effort to get my Virtual Assistant business off and running, so I can retire from that day job that I keep talking about.

I have yet to order business cards for my VA business, but when I do, I’m going to order from Visa Print. They always have some sort of Special Sale going on. I’ve ordered the Free Business Cards for my Shoppes site there, as well as my eBay store. I like to include a business card when shipping out items from my eBay store, thanking my customers for their purchase, and reminding them to leave Feedback for me if they are pleased with the transaction. In the past, I also had cards made up for the various Affiliate companies that I once was an independent consultant for.

What I like about Vista Print is the fact that I can order cards from either their templates, or upload my own, like I did here.

I can even get note pads, address labels and car magnets with my company’s name! I did opt for the cute little gold-finish business card holders which fit easily in my purse.

I’ve been reading on many blogs that those who attended BlogHer ‘08 were passing out business cards.

Many moms use them as “Mommy Cards” to give out to the moms of their childrens’ friends! What a cute idea!

When my own daughters were younger, I printed ‘babysitting’ business cards for them to hand out to put up on the refrigerator, and even passed out a few myself to co-workers who were in need of a sitter. Now you can have them made up for Free at Vista Print!

Check them out!

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As many of you know, I’m dedicated to trying to retire from my day FT job to work at home full time and also to try to take care of the grandkiddos. I came across what I consider to be some very useful information that I’m going to share with you. I found it to be extremely helpful, and hope you do too.

5 Simple Techniques to Work at Home Forever

Copyright © 2003, Sylvie Charrier
Author of “You Can Work in Your PJs”
http://www.inyourpjs.com

If you’ve spent any time online, you will already know that there are lots of scams out there! You might have even begun to doubt that there are any work-at-home positions available for serious jobseekers. If this sounds like you, you aren’t alone!

Believe me, there are real home based jobs, but what most of the work at home sites omit in their information packages is that it takes work to get work. Finding a telecommuting job can be a full time job in itself, but if you don’t have all the facts, you will be spinning your wheels trying to get somewhere or you will probably give up within a few weeks. That would be a shame, because there aren’t enough high quality telecommuters as it is!

Look, I know you’re skeptical. So was I, a few short years ago. That was before I started implementing some very unique strategies that allowed me to generate so much work from my small home office, that I needed to hire extra staff just to keep up with it all!

The strategies I used are actually very simple, and you can duplicate these ideas to become a very successful telecommuter. In fact, I want you to copy my techniques, even if it means I create my own competition! Why? Because every time a new person starts to work from home more successfully and efficiently, that means one more employer is happy with the concept of hiring homeworkers! That means everyone gets more jobs, and more opportunities to do what we all love to do…working at home in our pyjamas!

So, let’s cover the top 5 simple techniques you can use to work at home forever, shall we?

1. Never pay for any job! There is never a good reason to pay for work, and I am amazed at how many jobseekers waste precious time and money chasing after schemes that will never pay. It wastes a lot of time you could better spend targeting your jobsearch to legitimate and valid work.

2. Get your materials ready! You are going to need to be ready before you start looking for work. You will need a specialized telecommuter’s resume, an excellent cover letter template, and an online portfolio that showcases samples of your work. Without these things in place ahead of time, you will not be ready for rapid response when an employer needs to see your stuff.

3. Make sure you have all the equipment and software you’re going to need! Depending on your skill set, you’re probably going to need special software and equipment to do your job right. Don’t expect an employer to pay for these things. A prospective employer is more likely to hire the next person who is properly equipped, rather than hire you if you expect the employer to pay for what you need to do your job.

4. Know what you do for a living! This is an absolute necessity if you want to work from home. You may think that you want to do “typing at home”, but if that’s all you can think of, then you’re wasting time. Think about how your typing skills will be useful to your employer, come up with creative applications of that skill, set up samples to show what your service looks like, and plan ahead on how much you will charge for that service. Be willing to tell prospective employers exactly what you do and how much you charge for it.

5. Change your strategy! Instead of looking for jobs that have already been posted online, and have already been taken, look for companies that are well suited for your talents. Create your own work by contacting companies that have not yet posted jobs online, and eliminate the competition. But, make sure you know exactly what service you plan to offer that company, and why it is useful to them. Don’t bother contacting companies by sending vague resumes. That technique never works! Contact targeted companies with specific services in mind, and let them know you are open to alternate suggestions.

These techniques work extremely well, and using them allowed me to build my home based service company from scratch, without spending a dime on advertising. I was broke when I started working from home, and I didn’t have a computer. Using these techniques, I was able to slowly build my business and develop a client base that has consistently earned me more money than if I was working onsite. You can do it too!

This article is excerpted from “You Can Work in Your PJs”, a real world guide to telecommuting. Sylvie Charrier works from home full time and wrote this book to share her unique techniques with others. You can download your copy of “You Can Work in Your PJs” by visiting http://www.inyourpjs.com

VOTE FOR ME ~ KEEP ME ON TOP ~ I’M A TOP MOMMA ~

Click the Button to Keep Me On Top!

“When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound’… Def Leppard

More titillating tidbits on my WAHM Affiliate Marketing experience!

Today I resigned from all but maybe two, of the small WAHM companies I belonged to as an Independent Consultant for Affiliate Marketing.

That’s it, I’m done, I’ve heard, seen and had enough of it.

I got an e-mail today from a company I was a rep for ~ Beautiful Diva.

The email indicated that affiliate links would no longer take a customer directly to your shopping cart, but rather a “landing/splash” page.  The customer would then have the option to search for a representative by entering their zip code, name or other methods.

WTH?  I’m going to put up a banner link to a site ~ have a potential customer click through to it ~ and then have that potential customer enter their zip code to find a different rep?

Who are they going to search for under “name” ~ Moomettesgram?  My full name used to be displayed before they did a U-Turn on their marketing tactics.

I don’t think so.  Down came that banner and ~ exit, stage left.  No more rep for that company.

My advice to anyone who’s thinking of becoming an Affiliate Rep, is this:

Before you sign up with a new WAHM company, check to see where your customer is going to land.  Otherwise - all you’re going to be doing is putting up a banner for the company gratis, and you won’t see any sales.

How many of my readers know what my zip code is?  I speak often of living in New England ~ Connecticut specifically ~ but I don’t think anyone is going to find me through that method.

If you blog and use banners, do all your readers know what state you live in?  Do you use your real name, or a by-line?

Really, young ones, think this one through.  Don’t just blindly do everything these companies ask you to do.  You are going to be taken for a ride if you do.

Another reason I’ve left several companies is that many are signed up with JROX.  One particular company made their reps sign up at least 3 times for a new JROX affiliate ID.  Talk about confusion.  No sales there ~ the website was down ~ the affiliate IDs didn’t work~ excuses, excuses.  I’m outta there.

Nope.  The only companies I’m with now are basically through big-name affiliate sites.  I’ll stick with those for awhile, and see how it goes.

No more small potatoes.

If anyone has any other experiences and you find you’re rolling in dough, speak up, and add yourself as a subscriber if you’d like to hear my continuing saga!

“Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil.

If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will…“

Well, well, well. As a follow-up to my post forewarning my young, nubile readers who are eager to enter the cut-throat world of work-at-home mom online ecommerce entrepreneurship, I am again chronicling my experiences.  As a Baby Boomer, I’m a little thicker-skinned than some of you younger moms.  But listen-up to Gram here ~keep up your guard and keep your ears & eyes wide open.

I’ll cut to the chase early.  One of my businesses got skinned alive by Cruella Hosting Services.

Read between the lines here.

For those who want to continue reading, this may get lengthy. But it’s interesting, so take a chance.

Continuing my experiences in the Hell Hall world of a WAHM, I posted here about all the e-mails I got to sign up for early renewals of this, that and every other thing. I canceled my annual subscription to Cruella’s hosting and design service that my business was on since it was scheduled for  ‘auto renewal’ through Paypal. I wanted to make sure this site didn’t charge me again because I was going to use the affiliate links provided through the respective companies, rather than having them all on a mini web site that I had created.

Coincidentally, at the same time, I contacted Cruella Hosting Service to ask for a URL redirect for one of my banners. Days went by, and I heard nothing. Surprise Surprise.

I fired off emails to every address I had from Cruella Hosting Service. This WAHM Dame Houdini has more email aliases than a Moose has Ticks at any given time (per recent news articles, that is about 35K).

I finally got one response today, and I am providing a synopsis of the flimsy excuses here:

…you have a yahoo email and some reason on Julie’s server I am not able to write to people with yahoo. I am not sure why. You need not be immature and treat people with respect if you want to get anywhere in business. I don’t take demands. I must of not got your email request. I removed you from my server you need to find another host. I hold the right to refuse service to anyone who acts in a bad or disruptive matter.

…I am sorry I don’t take demands. Your site is being removed. No one demands me to do something.

Just for your information I didn’t ask for money I offered early renewal for discount rate. You no longer need that…

I told you you were removed from our services. You don’t demand your host and designer to do something imediately. I never got your update email. I have a form everyone fills out for updates. I have a forum for people to get the updated info. You don’t go tell your host to do the work imediately specially when I do free updates. You never paid me to work imediately. Updates are sometimes on tuesdays but mainly 1st and 15th. The form makes sure i get the updates. You will need to find you a new host. You can’t go back to Julie because you left her services. You probably owe her money. (proviso, NOT.) I am not sure. We are on the same server so you left Julie to stay on the same server. Respect is demanded with my services.

sorry for the small amount I charge I offer no refunds.

Judy

Keep in mind that Cruella has the audacity to blame me for being impatient because she didn’t respond to my numerous requests for the redirect. I filed off a grievance to Paypal for services not received, although I don’t believe I’ll see any relief.

Here’s my response:

Your excuse is ridiculous about my using a Yahoo email address.

You have more than 3 email addresses I have been writing to.

There’s this one, there’s xxx
There’s the one that payment was sent to on Paypal, there’s the one that’s listed on Paypal
There’s also xxx
I had written to them all, and never heard back from you. I requested the URL redirect quite some time ago, which more than covered your day of the week that you work to make the requested changes. It’s easy for you to use the excuse that you never got an email. I don’t buy that.

And you have the audacity to blame me because you’re not performing up to snuff, and I am the paying customer. And what does bringing up that other person you referred to have to do with our business transaction? Squat.

Not to worry. I have a WAHM tips blog.

No loss on my part.

Some people are just so shady and slick, and operate their market place mama businesses like flea or tick central dot info hell halls.

If you want the down and dirty of it all, just let me know.

Update: And then for some strange reason, after this post went to press, with no warning, I got kicked out of The Mom Pack tonight. No emails, no nothing, just no access.  Coincidence? Technical hiccup?   Gossip Wag?  Wicked Stepsisters from Mom Pack?

What do you think?

This weekend we’re going to be helping Charming Son-in-Law’s mom celebrate her 50th birthday. It’s going to be so much fun!

Yes, turning 50 is a milestone. This Baby Boomer still thinks like a 30-year old, but parts of me are telling me I’m hallucinating.

Take for example my eyes. I started wearing glasses in my 20s. Within the last year, I’ve gone through 3 pairs of glasses. I have trifocals and special readers that I use just for the computer so I won’t have to tip my head when looking at the screen.

Glasses can be very expensive, especially if you’re not covered by any health insurance.

ZenniOptical.com sells stylish prescription glasses online!  Zenni Optical $ 8 Rx Eyeglasses offers you a  huge selections of frames, with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. The Secret to Zenni’s Low Prices is that they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. Wow, Zenni Optical was on FOX news!

Think I’ll head on over and pick up some Incredible Stylish New Frames From Zenni for almost every outfit!

My In Box is overflowing!  Recent emails that I’ve received must be a sign of the times.

I have received so many emails from the various work-at-home mom advertising sites that I’m signed up for.  All of them have been offering best buy specials gimmicks.

“Renew early - sign up for “lifetime placement” and lock in for a one-time rate!

Most of these advertising sites are from mom-owned WAHM businesses.

Yes, I do like to support other mom-owned businesses.  However, I caution you in falling for this common sales pitch tactic.

What I believe is happening, is that these people are in a pinch, and are trying to earn some extra fast cash.

Before you sign up for a renewal, ask yourself some questions:

• **Will your own site be around next year or for a lifetime?  Is it working for you?  Do you think you’ll want to continue with your direct sales or affiliate company/ecommerce site/product?  Is your product flying off the shelf so fast that you need a ‘lifetime’ rate?

• **Will the site you’re going to advertise on be around next year, or for a lifetime?  What is their refund policy should they fold, or should you decide to discontinue your affiliation/shop/product?  If they’re so successful, why are they trying to raise cash now?  That’s what they’re really trying to do.  If they include comments such as “our site is growing by leaps and bounds” ~ they it’s ‘Buyer Beware.”
  

• **Have you checked your statistics to see if this particular advertiser is generating enough traffic for you to renew, especially for a lifetime?

As I keep stressing, read between the lines.  Don’t fall for any sales pitch and part with your hard-earned money that isn’t going to be profitable for you.  It may sound enticing, but I still think it’s a sign of a tough economy.