Guest post by Melanie Kissell Founder, Solo Mompreneur

Do you S-T-R-E-T-C-H yourself a little more each day to grow your business?

Good!  You’re successful.

Have you found a purpose, a passion, and the drive that stimulates you to get up every day and get back to it again?

Wonderful!  You’re successful.

Are you taking at least one tiny action step every day to add value to the lives of others?

Bravo!  You’re successful.

Success is Not defined by the number of dollars you add to your bank account every month.  It’s defined by your motivation, your creative energy, and your “keep going” spirit.

It’s no secret.  We’re all in business to make money.  But it’s the accumulation of all the small, yet significant successes you experience on your journey that will lead you to financial success.

Here are the jukebox buttons to push so you can start hearing the Sweet Sounds of Success:

1) Avoid Rubber Band Stretching

When you pull a rubber band too hard, it’s going to break.  And so will you if you stretch your business-building commitments too thin.  Joining too many online communities and trying to implement too many marketing platforms at once will lead to chaos and confusion.  Stick with one or two social media venues and three marketing platforms until you have mastered them.

2) Hang On To Some Coat Tails

My suggestion is to find someone you look up to have as a confidante, sounding board, and guide.  If you are unable to hire a coach right now, that’s okay.  Choose someone you have developed a relationship with that you can count on to brainstorm ideas, give you some direction, boost your confidence, and support you when you are feeling overwhelmed.  You may be a solo professional, but you cannot build a viable business alone.

3) Cookie Cutter Doesn’t Cut It

Be yourself.  You hear that all the time, right?  But what does it really mean?  It means that being unconventional as an online marketer and small business owner is acceptable and welcomed.  It’s A-Okay to do things differently than others in your niche.  You don’t have to follow conformity.  You want to strive to brand YOU.  Tell your story and find your voice.  Maybe you will realize success through writing.  Maybe it will be public speaking.  Or maybe your own internet radio show will be the ticket.  You decide!

Embrace and enjoy your journey.  And may you forever hear the sweet sounds of success!

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Melanie Kissell is a single mom, big dog lover, avid blogger and affiliate marketer, and founder of Solo Mompreneur.  She works with single women business owners who show great tenacity and passion for their business, but who are short on time, exhausted, and tapped out financially.  Melanie focuses on sharing low-cost and no-cost marketing strategies with her target audience.

This is a Guest Post by Kathryn Griffiths:

“Push The Rock!”  What?  “Push The Rock!”  These words are just some of the advice I received from my first mentor when I started my online business.

What did she have in mind?

She likened starting an online business to “Pushing A Rock” up a hill to the top.  It takes action, time, commitment, dedication and perseverance.  (Whew… did I get them all covered?)   Bottom line… a lot of work.

Creating an online business is not easy… at least… not as easy as some fast talking Gurus may try and lead you to believe.

The winning formula is:  Follow a proven system, stick in there for the long haul… on a straight an narrow course… and you eventually get to the top.

So… you get to the top… then what?

Something amazing happens.  It’s called a “Tipping Point.”

A “Tipping Point” is a certain point at which the process proceeds increase dramatically.

“Tipping Points” are the levels at which the momentum becomes unstoppable.

In other words, there comes a time when the “rock” reaches the top and tips over the peak and rolls down the other side.  It picks up speed and enlarges.  It’s momentum becomes unstoppable without much extended effort on your part.

Those who have reached the “Tipping Point” in their online business say that their business got easier to manage and the rewards reached ten fold.

Here are a few elements that make up the “rock.”

Education: The first step is learning “what” to do.  The second step is learning “how” to do it.  Find mentors or programs that teach both.  Don’t settle for programs that just tell you what you need to be doing without providing information or the means for getting the job done.

Products: You need products to promote.  Whether is affiliate products or your own product, you need to find a products worthy of your time and attention.  Many successful online marketers start with affiliate products and little by little, add their own.

List Building: Building a list of potential customers is a vital key for reaching success.  Not just any list, but a hungry list in your particular niche.  You will need an auto-responder so you can offer your customers solid content and promote products that will solve their problems.

Marketing and Promotion: This can include a blog, article marketing, social media, and forums.

Everyone’s “tipping point” varies according to the niche, and the effort that is put into getting to the top…. but it’s there.

When you feel bogged down and discouraged… lift your head and view the top of the mountain…. and then keep “pushing the rock.”  There is a vista on top.

Til Later,

Kathryn Griffiths

P.S.  There is no reason why we call can’t reach the top… there’s room for everyone.  Let’s make our journey a pleasant one by supporting each other and “push our rocks” together.

Kathryn Griffiths has been online since 2007, building businesses in several niches.  She provides information and instruction to those who are new entrepreneurs striving to build their online businesses from home.

She has worked from her home for many years, successfully managing various businesses ventures.  She can be found at http://kathryngriffiths.com

I often quote the statement that a goal is just a dream if you fail to write it down because it’s so true.  In general, most people accept that they need to write their goals as it’s only too easy to get side-tracked, or to lose sight of what you’re working towards.  For others, they may have to change their mindset in order to accept the need to implement setting goals.

A challenge that many people I work with and speak with have is that while they recognize the importance of written goals, they do not know how to write them effectively.

The first step is decide in your mind what the goal is, what the details involved will be, which would include timeframe, current status, where you’d like to be in the short term, as well as in the long term.  You also have to take into consideration any external factors that may affect the outcome.  Once these have been determined, you are ready to transfer you thoughts to paper or your computer.

1.   Always write your goals in positive language. For example, instead of: My goal is to lose 10 pounds in one month; you may consider: My goal is to be 10 pounds lighter at the end of one month. Or, instead of: My goal is to stop being late for appointments; you may write: My goal is to leave earlier for appointments so I will arrive on time.

2.    Ensure that you include as many details as possible. Include the why – the reason for the goal; how – the steps you will take to achieve the goal; when – the timeframe to complete the goal and intervals for checking that you’re on track; who – will you be totally responsible for completing the process, or will others be involved?

3.    Be honest with yourself as to your ability, the time you can give to achieving the goal; and be realistic.  You may find that after an honest evaluation of your circumstances you may have to give yourself extra time.  It’s best to do this evaluation before you start so that  you don’t lose your motivation down the road.

Once you have done these things and have them written, you’ll want to print copies and keep them in strategic locations in your home office or wherever you need to, in order to be reminded of them on a daily basis.

During a recent 30-day blog challenge I was part of, I endeavored to visit 3 to 5 blogs each day, read a post on each, and leave a meaningful comment.  I noticed that on many blogs there was a gray rectangular box on the top right-hand of each post that indicated how many tweets had been made on that post.  Under the box was a green box that showed if the post had been tweeted by me on a previous visit or not.  It would show “retweet” or “tweeted.”

I became curious because I had a  widget installed from Add to Any, but this one seemed much easier to use, and if not placed correctly could be overlooked.  Eventually I went to tweetmeme.com to learn more.  I found out that the Tweetmeme button is a plug-in you need to download and then upload to your Plug-ins in your admin area, after which you click to make active.  It’s been fun using it, but for this post I decided to dig a little deeper, and found that there is a whole lot more that Tweetmeme can do for you.

I’ve included some excerpts taken directly from tweetmeme.com:

1.    The TweetMeme retweet button ‘is for website and blog publishers who want to encourage their audience to tweet their content on Twitter. The button shows a live  count of the number of times your webpage or blog post has been tweeted’. (That’s what I described above).

2.    Email Buttons: You can easily embed an image button into your email which will display a live tweet count for a particular URL. You also have the option to make the button clickable.

3.    Domain Tweet Count:  You  can display a chicklet on your blog showing the count for the total number of tweets your blog has received in a week.

4.    The plugins are supported by Wordpress, TypePad and Blogger.

5.    The Bookmarklet feature allows you to ‘quickly and easily retweet and comment on stories across the web with TweetMeme’. … Wherever you are on the web, you can click the bookmarklet and it will bring you to the TweetMeme page for that URL, where you can easily Retweet the story, comment on it, and find out more information.

No, I’m not an affiliate for Tweetmeme, but I felt this could help many of us in our business, especially on our blogs.  If you are already using these features, would you share your experience with us?

Now, please click on the gray button on the upper right hand to retweet this post. Thank you

In my last post we discussed the fact that many people have unique skills, hobbies, and ideas.  The Internet allows you to reach others with similar interests effortlessly and in a way that reduces rejection and bolsters your confidence.

From my personal experience and that of many others who come online, it can be challenging to start  with creating your own product. For many this could take a long time and derail their efforts to launch their business.  You could, instead, chose to promote someone else’ product, that matches your niche and receive an affiliate commission. That’s called Affiliate Marketing.

In recent times product creation has become a little easier with the use of PLR products.  PLR stands for Private Label Rights. PLR articles are usually written by a ghostwriter and sold to several website owners. This means that you (and a limited number of other bloggers) can edit the articles and publish them without being required to link back to anyone or give anyone credit for writing them. You become the expert when using PLR articles.

Many people choose to use these articles as they are, but I personally do and strongly recommend that you customize the articles, tweak them for your market, insert examples or photos or case studies then publish them on your website.  Even if your niche is a fairly small one, it’s likely that you can find a topic close to what you’re looking for and add your unique content to it.  You can then have material for your blog, which will be the hub of your new business, and even a short report to offer to the people who have similar interests to yours.

The main challenge I found for some time was finding a good PLR service that provides professionally written content sold in limited quantities.  That issue was resolved when I found EasyPLR.com.  EasyPLR.com has been offering  niche plr article packs on the web since 2006.  Here are some reasons why I highly recommend their content:

-  Great reputation. Thousands of happy, repeat customers over the years.

-   Great quality. The content is written by professional writers on staff and edited by a separate staff member.

-   Limited availability. You’re not sharing your articles with thousands of other people.

-    Run by a Respected Internet Marketer. Nicole Dean owns EasyPLR.com and is oftentimes called ‘the marketer with integrity’, and runs her business by her gut and  ethics, not strictly by her pocketbook.

-    Excellent customer support. Need any help? They’re there for you.
I’m a customer at EasyPLR.com and I have been extremely happy with the good quality articles and content and have no hesitation in recommending this service. Check it out here.

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Please note that many of the links on this Blog are affiliate links.  I will receive a commission if you purchase through these links.

The Internet has expanded the way people are able to monetize or capitalize on their thoughts, ideas, and concepts. Many of us are slow about taking advantage of the ‘new horizon’ that has opened up, perhaps because we’ve held on to the idea that everything has to be a long process.  That’s no longer the case, and we may be missing valuable opportunities to expand and take the first step to monetize our ideas online.  I know this is true because it has happened to me as well.

• The Internet allows you to find out what people are interested in

• Facebook allows you to create a Page on just about anything; which, in turn, allows people to show whether they ‘like’ it or not – another way to determine the level of interest

• Keyword Tools allow you to research keywords, phrases, and long-tail keywords that indicate what people are searching for.

These are only some of the ways that you can do your research.  Many other options are open to you.  You may have an unusual hobby or a unique talent that you believe very few, if anyone, would be interested in.  Your family and friends my not find either one appealing, but you may be surprised to find that there are others of like-mind who share your interest.

By determining the level of interest in a particular idea, you will be in a position to take the next step to create a product and market it to a particular niche.

Do you have a unique interest?  Do not allow lack of confidence to prevent you from sharing this online.  There is no downside to developing a confident mindset and exploring this option.  If people do not want what you offer, the worst that will likely happen is that they will not respond.

Mindset has to do with the way you think, and the way you think has a direct bearing on the type of results you will realize from starting your online business.

When you made the decision to start a business online, you did so based on research that what you had to offer could be marketed online.  You will be marketing something you already know something about, or recently took the time to learn about; and it may be something that you are passionate about.

If you’d decided to for a corporation and purchase a franchise offline, you would have to give yourself a specific designation on the Articles of Corporation.  Your title would probably be CEO or President.  You have instead started an online business!  You do not need to set up a corporation to start an online business, but it it very important to keep in mind that because you’ve started a business, your mindset must be the same.  You are the CEO/President/Owner of your own company, and as such, you are responsible for the planning, goal-setting, and other activities associated with running a business.

Your mindset or the way you think will affect the way you approach your business.  Many people will do a lot more when they work for someone else who pays them based on hours worked rather than what they are really worth.  You must develop the mindset that as your own boss, you will have to be prepared to work twice as hard for yourself so that you can see a measure of success in a short time.

You may like diverse tasks, and you will have no shortage of that as the President/CEO/Public Relations Coordinator/Accountant/Secretary of your company.  However, what I’ve found, and what you will find as you get to know successful online marketers, it’s the doing of the same tasks over and over that’s going to allow you to see desired results.  Here is a critical area where you may need to change your mindset!  You must continue to do the same things over and over until you see the desired results as long as these steps are the ones that will lead to success in your business.  Only after you have mastered these steps and seen the results should you move on to a new set of steps.

Many people scoff at positive affirmations and hold to the theory that they do not work.  Do they really work?  What are affirmations? Affirmations are basically a form of self-talk.  Look at this realistically.  Every day, several time each day we talk to ourselves, and no not because we’re crazy.  Unfortunately, most of it is negative.  Don’t think so?  Let’s look at these two scenes:

1) You get in your car in your driveway and you suddenly remember that you left your cell phone in the house, but it’s important to have it with you. You immediately start berating yourself on being forgetful and may call yourself harsh names for not placing the phone by your keys as you usually do.

2)  You just got back from the office supply store and you slap yourself on the forehead as you just remembered the main reason you went to the store was to purchase copy paper and you have a 30-page e-book you want to edit before uploading to your website.  You may begin to call yourself stupid, ‘I never can remember anything’, and quite a bit of negative self-talk.

This type of talk is not up-building,  it does not make you feel good, and does nothing for your self-image.

Positive affirmations, on the other hand, affirm the best in you and focus on your good qualities.  They encourage you to improve in areas in which you’re having a challenge.  “I’m getting better at remembering things,” “Everyday I learn from my mistakes and avoid repeating them.”  These are examples of positive affirmations as they help you to see yourself as you would like to be and the goal you are reaching for.

Author, Julia Cameron, notes that “Affirmations are positive statements about positive beliefs.  They help achieve a sense of safety and hope.  If we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change.”

What can you affirm about yourself today so you that could have a positive impact in your business?

Do you have small children?  Are they home for the summer or will be off from school soon?  Are you dreading the disruption in your home-based business schedule?  Many mothers who work from home are already agonizing over the adjustments they will need to make, and it’s understandable.  But instead of adding to your stress by worrying about it, may I suggest you take a moment and reflect on the fact that one of the reasons you were attracted  to a home-based business was the flexibility it afforded you.

As women we wear many hats and being an entrepreneur,  a business owner, comes with it’s own challenges.  However,  while it’s essential to have systems in place so that you can manage your business successfully, these systems cannot be so rigid that you can’t allow for  changes in your schedule when the need arises.

I will admit that when I’m working to meet a deadline or have a number of projects I’d schedule to be completed within a specified period, I’ve felt annoyance when I had to stop and take care of something that I’d not planned for.  Having a sense of humor often helps and I try to laugh at myself at how ‘worked up’ I’m allowing myself to get over nothing, do what I have to do, and get back to my project.  That’s flexibility in action!

During the time I’m working in my business, I’m my own boss so I can take some time off if I need to.  You can too and  try to view flexibility as a means to add diversity as you work from home.

What are your thoughts on flexibility in your business? Please share in the Comments.