Are You Ready For Tax Season?

Okay guys, it’s tax time, and if you’re like many people you may be wondering if you’re getting all the tax deductions and credits that you are eligible for, especially if you run an online or home based business.

Well… I just heard about a teleclass being offered this week by Kristine McKinley of Ebiz Tax Tips, called “Your Top Tax Online Business Questions Answered”! The teleclass was held in February, but Kristine is making it available online for you.

So if you’ve got questions about whether your online income is taxable, or what expenses you can deduct, then you’ll want to download this recording! Click here to check it out!

Top 3 Tips for Growing Your Business with a List

Welcome to Episode #28!

If you have any kind of web presence, certainly you’ve heard the phrase, “The Money Is In the List.” This is true for any business.

This week my guest is Shannon Cherry of Be Heard Solutions and she shares her top three tips for building your mailing list and why this will help grow your business. She has a very unique idea for drawing targeted customers to your website and explains why it pays to know who is in your target market.

If you would like additional help from Shannon with building your targeted list, check out Shannon’s list building webinar as mentioned in the show.

Be sure to listen to the end of the show because Shannon has a very special bonus offer just for my listeners!

Do you have any unique ideas for building a targeted list? I’d love to hear your feedback so feel free to leave a comment below.

Want A Simple Solution To Your Press Release Campaign?

As I’ve mentioned before, submitting the right press release to the right source can lead to sudden success. For example, one of my Shop Kit Plus clients submitted a press release to a local TV station. The next thing she knew, a reporter was on her doorstep wanting to do a story.

Since then, her products have appeared on CBS’ The Early Show and HGTV, both national TV networks. Wow! Talk about getting your name out there.

Some people might say she was lucky — but we know better. She did her homework, which included sending out press releases. I know my client’s case, she had someone else write a press release. Which is fine — except for new business owners or those who are still paying off the cost of the initial inventory investment, paying $75 or more for a writer to write one good press release just isn’t realistic.

And writing a press release yourself isn’t such a hot idea either, even if you’re a writer, because press releases require a certain style. As a busy mom and jack-of-all-trades in your business, you don’t have time learn how to write press releases.

My friends, Alice Seba, Mila Sidman and Shannon Cherry understand this. So they put together several very inexpensive press release packs that you can download, customize and send out to your media list. Not only have they made it very easy to edit the press releases, they’ve included written instructions — and recommendations on where to submit the releases.

I just downloaded six packs tonight and they are awesome! Trust me — I used to be a reporter and editor. I had control over which releases went into the trash can. These press releases are attention getters.

So, if you want to save money while still taking advantage of your very own publicity campaign, head over to All Press Content.

Update: Alice just contacted me to let me know that she is offering a 40% discount for you! Just enter this coupon code when you order: A40CE

Thank you, Alice!

Wrangling The Stuffed Animals (Otherwise Known As Organizing)

I don’t know how we managed to do this, but we have accumulated WAY TOO MANY stuffed animals. Don’t believe me?

Judge for yourself:

And that’s just what’s on my daughter’s bed. Take a look at her toy tote:

We need serious help. So far, here are the possible solutions I’ve considered:

• The traditional toy hammock
• A newfangled stuffed animal tree

Anyone have experience with either of these items? Better ideas? Help!

The Money’s In The List. Got List?

Imagine having a way to get thousands of qualified prospects on your email list in a short amount of time - and actually get reporters writing all about it. Seem impossible?

Well, my friend and publicity pro, Shannon Cherry from Be Heard Solutions, has actually created a way to do it, without being sleazy or inauthentic.

Recently, she developed a promotional system which gave her more than 2,500 targeted people in just two weeks, as well as 200 media outlets covering the promotion. But best of all, because these people were truly interested, she made a ton of sales right away!

Now, she’s sharing her system to ONLY a few dozen people. And I don’t want you to miss out.

So I called her up and we chatted for a few minutes about her ideas. Even better — I recorded the conversation and will air it next week on Product Sellers Talk Radio.

She shared her top three tips for list building - including a real gem that is BRILLIANT!

She also talked about the teleseminar she’ll be holding in just a couple of weeks. It’s The List Building Promotion Secrets Telebootcamp. You can check it out at List Building Promotions.

Even better: If you sign up for List Building Secrets through my link, she’ll throw in a press release written by her personally, for your target market AND a targeted media list. Her press release alone is worth $1,500. and I’m not just saying that. She really sells her services for that much money, because her techniques get results.

You know the money is in the list. Isn’t it time to get your share?

Go to List Building Promotion and sign up today.

And make sure you subscribe to Product Seller’s Talk Radio in your feed reader or your email, so you can listen to Shannon’s top three tips:

Does Your Website Ambiance Affect Your Sales?

Welcome to Episode #27!

Now that you have your product, your website, and even prospective buyers visiting your site, you need to convince them that yours is the product they want. How will you motivate them to make that purchase?

This week Michelle and Stephanie discuss how to create a personal feeling on your website that will entice customers to buy your product. This is often a difficult challenge because your customers do not have the option of seeing and handling your products. The look of your website and the product descriptions need to do all the sales work.

If hiring a copywriter is not in your budget, Michelle recommends the Product Descriptions Pack. The other useful products Michelle mentioned on the show are Presenting Your Products and SEO PowerUp .

We’d love to hear some of your tried and true tips for motivating customers. Do you think it’s easier or more difficult to make sales online? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Top 10 Reasons To Hire A WAHM Business Coach

Chances are, you’re so wrapped up in figuring out what you’re going to name your business, who your vendors will be and what your website will look like, that you haven’t thought much about:

• How your name will be viewed by your customers
• Whether or not your target market will buy the products you offer, or
• How easy it will be for your site visitors to navigate through your new websites

Unfortunately, not thinking about these things — and dozens of others — can damage your business right from the beginning. This is why hiring a coach to help you start your business is not only a wise, but cost effective method of starting a successful product selling business.

Whoa!

I know. Like most of us new to home business, you’re not exactly rolling in venture capital. No one has deposited millions of dollars into your bank account to fund your perfect office chair and a shiny new business coach. I totally get that you’re operating on a shoestring.

But I also get that if you don’t seek expert advice, right from the beginning, you can spend hours, days, weeks, months, even years, struggling in your business… and not even knowing why.

And that’s where a business coach can save you time. (And as you know, time is money.) Here’s how:

1. A business coach can cut a huge chunk out of your learning curve. One of my new hosting clients learned the hard way that you need to make sure your domain name is registered in your name. Because she trusted another company to register the domain in their name, she may lose it. A business coach could have helped her avoid that mistake.

2. A business coach can see things in a different light. Sometimes you get so deep into the forest, that you can see the trees. Your coach can help reel you out and show you what your business looks like from a different perspective.

3. A business coach can help you maintain your perspective. I know, with children, a household and fifty different things you need to do to build your business, something is going to slide. A business coach can help you keep your perspective and prioritize. It’s easy sometimes to get so buried in work, that you think if you don’t answer that email right now, your customer is going to run from you screaming. But you also have to remember to take care of yourself and your family. Your coach can help you draw that line.

4. A business coach can help you focus. So many great ideas, so little time. That’s how we end up with our hosting accounts littered with half-built websites and notebooks full of ideas. A business coach can help you focus on those ideas that work well within your business and discard those that will just take up your time.

5. A business coach can help build you up after a failure. Even the most successful among us have failed once or twice. The only ones who remained failures are those who quit. A business coach can encourage you while you pick up the pieces and find a better path to success.

6. A business coach can brainstorm with you. Sometimes you reach a point where you feel like you’re fresh out of ideas. And nothing seems right. A business coach can be that sounding board you need to get the creativity flowing.

7. A business coach can provide feedback, objectively. If you’re in a situation where you need to know what to do, a business coach can offer you advice. Perhaps you’re not sure which color scheme to use, or how to respond to an unhappy customer. The coach can look at your situation with fresh eyes, and without emotional entanglements.

8. A business coach can help you look to the future. So many of us are stuck in the here and now — the day-to-day grind of answering emails, shipping products, updating the website, caring for kids, cooking meals… tomorrow? I don’t have time to think about tomorrow! Your business coach can help you take a few minutes to plan where your business is going and develop a map to get there. After all, you wouldn’t load up the car and head down the street on a vacation without knowing where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and what resources you have available.

9.  A business coach can hold you accountable. Building a business is much like building a house. You start by preparing the soil, pouring the foundation and then building up the walls. A business coach can make sure you follow the proper order of business building, that you keep working even when it looks like rain, and that you don’t unknowingly take any shortcuts that could damage your business.

10. Unlike your spouse, online friends or other business owners, your business coach has no personal agenda. Your spouses and friends love you, but they may not think running a business is what you should be doing. They may see you gnashing our teeth over an unhappy customer, and think that perhaps a business isn’t good for you. Or maybe they see you spending hours at a time building the business and wish you would just sit in the living room with them and watch TV for once. They mean well, but if you’re wanting to build a successful business, you have to remain focused on the goal.

Other product selling business owners may be right in the middle of the problem you’re in and have no more of an idea how to get out of it than you do. Or they may know how to get past the problem — but who wants to help the competition?

A business coach has no such agendas. She wants to see you successful. After all, your success is her success, too.

How Being A Mentor To Someone Else Can Help Your Business

When you started your home business, there may have been someone who inspired you, who guided and helped you learn business skills along the way.

This person may have told you about mistakes they had made to prevent you from doing the same, or suggested steps you could take to improve your business.

That person was your mentor. When I was in high school, my mentor was the newspaper advisor. When I was in college, my mentor was the journalism professor. At church, my mentors are older women, or women who have been Christians longer than I have.

In business, my mentors have been women such as Kelly McCausey, Lynette Chandler or Alice Seba, who have taken time to offer advice and answer my questions.

I think it is important, and I’m sure you do to, to pay those acts of kindness forward and grow your business at the same time by acting as a mentor to someone else.

1. Mentoring can renew your enthusiasm. Depending on how long you have been in your business, you may have a “been there, done that” attitude. By working with someone who is new to the home business world, you are gaining a fresh perspective on things. Remember the excitement you had for things when you first started? A new person will have that excitement, and their passion and excitement can help you get excited for things all over again.

I experienced this last semester when I taught a web design class as my local technology center. Teach students who were excited about learning to design sites was refreshing to me. This happens every time I talk to one of my coaching clients or to a potential Shop Kit Plus customer. Their excitement about starting a new home business is contagious.

2. Mentoring and help you grow. Working with someone can also help you gain new skills. They may have questions about things you are not familiar with. As you help them research and understand the topic, you will gain a new understanding of it. Or perhaps the person you are mentoring is fluent in a computer program that you have no experience with. They may help you learn it in exchange for all the help you are giving them.

3. Mentoring can help you evaluate where you are and make improvements. Being a mentor can also help you improve on the skills you have. For instance, if the person you are mentoring asks you how you manage to get everything done, you can go over some basic time management skills with her. This will reinforce things for you. Plus, it is hard to tell people to do something that you currently aren’t doing. Helping someone learn the art of time management may help you become a better organizer and planner.

4. Mentoring will help you learn. You will also have access to their feedback. If you are teaching them to do things similar to the way you are doing things, ask them if they feel if anything can be improved upon. They may have ideas on how to streamline certain activities or other ideas.

As you work with someone, you will notice the changes and progress they are making. This can help remind you of how far you have come in your own business. This can definitely help you feel more confident and ready to take on more tasks. The more you challenge yourself, the further you will grow.

Plus, helping someone out will simply make you feel good. Just knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life will help you be competent and worthwhile.

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