Work At Home Musings

If you are looking for a home based business, here are a couple tips to avoid getting sucked into a scam:

• Do not call any 900 numbers. These numbers charge you money.
• Don’t pay for a list of home based business, you can find the information free on the internet.
• Don’t be bullied into a decision. You should have time to think about your decision.
• Don’t be fooled by vague ads. I hate the ads that insist that you will make thousands of dollars, but you have no idea what you would be doing or selling.
• Check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints about the company.

Huh? I have never heard of Rain Chains either until I found them at OnlineDiscountMart.com. The rain chains are made out of cooper and come in many different designs. The chain can include links and/or cooper formed flowers. The cool part is when it rains you have a new kind of chime! You can actually hear the rain as it trickles down the rain chain. A cool addition to your yard decor!

Direct Sales Helpers is a website that is written for those in the Direct Sales Business. DSH offers a free newsletter with valuable tips and tools for those in the direct sales business. You can also download a copy of the free e-book Choosing Your Direct Sales Business. This book is a valuable resource for those looking to find a direct sales business that will actually make them money!

Their blog is fun to read and has some great tips and they have a forum where you can chat with other direct sales women!

I found a new resource for WAHMs! The Busy Day Report has put together a resource entitled FREE Places to Promote Your Blog and Website! This resource lists over 250 free marketing resources for work at home moms. In fact, my other blog, The Shopping Duck, is listed as one of the resources!

What’s the catch? All you have to do is sign up for the free The Busy Day Report which ia a free weekly newsletter filled with information to help you in your homebased business. Plus it includes tidbits of information on improving your parenting skills, managing life and home, growing closer to God and taking care of yourself. It is very informative!

When I graduated college I started working full-time. I had been working for about 20 years when I was introduced to Stampin’ Up! by a friend of mine. I basically decided to sign up for the discount! I was already a crafty person and stamping and scrapbooking was just the thing for me. Since I was still working full time I did little to grow that home business. A year later, though, I decided to stay home to be more involved with my three kids schooling and activities.

That was three years ago and I have been building that business, plus a couple others as well. The obstacles to building a home business is I have other obligations at home as well. Attending school functions and activities, cleaning and organizing the house, cooking, playing with my four year old - all of these, at one time or the other, have priority over working on my home businesses.

I have learned that scheduling is very important. If I spend too much time on ONE of the items the others are neglected. It certainly is a balancing act when I have many important activities going on in my life!

If you work for a Direct Sales Company, one of the aspects of your business may be recruiting others. When you build your downline, you build your income as well. In my experience in working for a DSA company, it is imperative that you are completely honest with your potential recruits. I have found that there are two types of recruits.

The first type are those that would just like to get a discount on the product. They are not really interested in parties or selling (except to themselves and maybe a few close friends). Tell them about the discounts that are offered and be sure to let them know if there are any monthly, quarterly or yearly minimums that must be met. If they would receive even greater discounts by selling more, discuss that as well.

The second type of recruit wants to make a business and earn extra money. They are less concerned about personal discounts. Help them understand what kind of profits they will see. Be honest about how much they can possible make. If they have a $400 party will they see $40 profit or $100 profit? Teach them how to cut costs by having only the basic materials needed for demonstrating the product. The more they have to put out of pocket, the more they will see less profit.

Want to reach a new audience? Think about hosting a podcast! A podcast is a radio-style show that is delivered over internet. The podcast is not live, but recorded for listening at a latter time.

Talk about your home business, home business tips or your life. All you have to do is head on over to MyPodCast.com to record your Free Podcast. Then invite everyone you know to come and listen!

This is a good way to introduce new products or ideas to your reading audience.

One of the hardest things for me as a small business owner, is keeping track of all the expenses and income for my business. I tend to pile receipts everywhere and I don’t print off the invoices that I need from my ebay and paypal accounts in a timely fashion. Guess what happens? Tax time is very stressful for me!

It is difficult to find someone who will do bookkeeping for small business, but I think I may have found one. Accounting Paradise charges a small flat fee for small businesses that need help setting up and keeping their accounting systems. They also offer a discount on the QuickBooks Program.

I don’t need Payroll services (since I am the only employee), but they do offer that as well.

I love working from home. Why? Because I get to spend more time with my children. When I was working full-time outside of the home, my kids were in day care or after school programs. I only got to spend time with them after I got home from work. Then there was homework to do (for the kids!), dinner to cook, the house to clean, etc. It left very little one-on-one time.

Now my oldest daughter is in middle school. She has been on both the soccer and basketball teams. All of their games are right after school. If I were still working outside the home, I would never get to see her play. It has been a great bonding experience for us.

It is easy now to find a work at home business opportunity . I do several business at home, including Stampin’ Up!, a custom embroidery business and my own website. You can always find something that fits your style!