We’ve talked about Aimee’s haircut, so now it’s my turn.

You’ve seen my current hairstyle at the top of this website. But I recently decided to have it highlighted. I decided to go with a warm subtle look — unlike the blonde ones I ended up with last year. (Too many jokes about how the blond streaks were a public warning….LOL!)

Anyway, here you go:

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If you’ve been in business for very long, you know the truth to this.

You will run into many obstacles along the way.

• Some months you’ll wonder how you’re going to pay your bills
• Some days you’ll wonder how you’ll get all your work done.
• Other days, a customer will make you cry.
• Some mornings you’ll want to crawl under the covers and stay there all winter.

People will tell you that your product or service stinks. Others will
tell you that you stink. Others will try to drag your name through the
mud.

You need to be confident in your self that what you are providing is
what your target market needs, that you are completely ethical and
legal in your business dealings and that you uphold your standards and
quality. If you are doing what you say you will do and providing what
you say you are providing, you can hold your head high.

If you love what you do, and you know that you are providing a needed product or service and that your quality and service are beyond reproach, then don’t let those bad days get you down:

• Take a day off during the week.
• Take as many weekends off as possible.
• Spend time with your family in the evening.
• Hire a sitter to help you during the day.
• Outsource the tasks you like doing the least.

Outsource? Let me explain. Some product manufacturers outsource sewing or shipping. You can do this too. But it’s also possible to outsource customer service, website updates, web design, email management, content writing, internet marketing and more.

If you’d like to consider outsourcing, I recommend Buckeye VA.

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Happy Earth Day everyone!

In celebration of this day, I’d like to share with you a great resource put together by my friend Carrie Lauth.

Carrie is the host of Natural Moms Talk Radio and writer of the Natural Mom Business Guide. She is a homeschooling mom of four and a breastfeeding counselor.

And even better, she has put together a Private Label Rights article pack for this day.

What is a private label rights article?

It’s called PRL. What that means is that you can reprint the article without putting someone else’s name on it. You can use it on your website, your blog or in a special report. (You just can’t say you wrote it, or resell the rights to the content.)

I’ve know Carrie for years and I know that she produced high-quality content that will bring added value to your website for your customers.

Click here to get the Earth Day Article Pack!

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So, everywhere that Aimee goes, people exclaim over how adorable her new cut is.

Haven’t heard her complain about it since Sunday.

hehehe!

So, I promised you all that I’d post pictures, so here they are.

This one is a side view:

And, of course, we had to get a back view. I love how her hair bends naturally. Mine has NO bend.

So, there you have it. The girly haircut that is somewhat like Momma’s but not exactly. But it’s OK now because everyone loves it. LOL!

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Myth: I’m just going to start my business small and if people like it, I’ll (buy a better website/setup a mailing list/hire a writer)…

Truth: If you’re going to run a business, call yourself a business, make a profit like a business and do business, as a business, with other businesses, then you need to act like a business.

There, I said it.

Before we continue this discussion, I’d like to say that if you’re just wanting to sell a few pieces of jewely or a few baby slings as a hobby, more power to you. I have no problem with that.

But if you’re starting a business, it’s in your best interests to behave like a business.

Here are some tips for those of you who are wanting to start a business — or already running one:

1. Behave like a business and you can write off your expenses on your taxes. Can’t do that if you’re just a hobbyist.
2. Acting like a business means trying to earn a profit, which means you’re going to have to mark up your prices above what a hobbyist might charge. After all, if you hadn’t planned on earning a profit, you’d have stayed a hobbyist or started a non-profit organization, right?
3. Set boundaries like a business. Make your terms of service clear and stick with them. As a business, you can’t make exceptions for everyone. You’ll run yourself — and your business — into the ground.
4. Don’t allow people to run over you. You might be a nice person, but that doesn’t mean you have to let people mop the floor with you. Follow the advice in #3 and politely tell the freebie-seeker that she needs to pay for your products or services.
5. Plan to be big. Starting a business that dies because no one bought its products or services is sad. Starting a business that does because the owner didn’t plan for success is a shame. Ask yourself where you want to be in five years and start planning for that now.

And finally, hold on tight, because running a business is a bit like riding a roller coaster — lots of ups and downs.

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So, Aimee decided that she wanted her hair cut like Mommy’s. Yes, take a peek at that picture at the top of the page and you’ll see what she wanted.

In case you’re curious, this is what she looks like now:

Now, let’s consider this for a moment.

First, I have somewhat course, extremely straight and thick hair with a mind of its own. Aimee has very fine, thin, wavy hair.

What does this mean?

Well, for starters, it means that if she did get her hair cut like mine, it would look a thousand times better than mine does. LOL!

Yes, I am green with envy.

I’m also not ready for my baby girl to have a grown up haircut, so I told the stylist to please give her a short cut like Mommy’s but with a girly flair.

Which is exactly what she did.

Boy, does Aimee look ADORABLE.

Unfortunately, she is mad because it doesn’t look exactly like Mommy’s.

*sigh*

Oh yeah, she’s asleep right now and I am NOT going to wake her up to take a picture. I will post a picture as soon as she is awake and will stand still long enough…

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Yes, it’s finally Friday and I’m ready to close up my office, head outside and bask in the sunlight. Yes, it’s a bright, sunny day out there.

Sigh.

Still have too much work to do. I need to record a new video presentation that will explain how categories, products and pages work in the Shop Kit Plus. And I need to create a few more video tutorials. Also need to update my Facebook profile. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m going to follow in the footsteps of Tamara Wilson and post a review of my week. I’d love to hear about your week, too.

Here is what I managed to accomplish:

1. Went live with the redesign of Shop Kit Plus.
2. Worked with a design parter on a design for a new site. Will tell you about it later.
3. Camped out at the local school administration building to enroll my daughter in full-day kindergarten. Was there for six hours with about 60 other people on Tuesday.
4. Worked with a copywriter to see about overhauling the content on one of my sites.
5. Hired a project manager for vbMojo.
6. Created an editorial schedule for projects I will be working on every week.
7. Wrote a lesson for SEO Power Up.
8. Attended ballgames and practices for each child.

That’s what I can remember off the cuff, and with a minimum of notes. How about you? What were your accomplishments this week?

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Have you ever received an email from a WAHM’s mailing list that you don’t remember signing up for? You thought maybe you had signed up for it, since, after all, what WAHM in her right mind would shoot herself in the foot by spamming, right?

Apparently, there is at least one WAHM out there who has been accused of spamming. You can read more from the spamming victims at Working WAHM.

In short, a word to the wise: Just because you have access to an email does not mean you can put it on your mailing list.

Spam is the use of a mailing list to blanket newsgroups or private email boxes with messages the recipients didn’t ask for.

The only appropriate way to receive an email for your mailing list is to have the potential member sign up for your list via the internet (or give you permission in writing at a trade show, for example) AND verify their admission via email.

In other words, just having someone tell you they want to be on your mailing list is not enough. Make sure you have your list setup to send them a verification, also known as confirmation, email, in which they must click a link to be included in the list.

This is the only way to ensure that no one gets on the list that doesn’t want to be there.

One last note: Make sure you always include a way for people to unsubscribe in each email.

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