wahm-articles.com

We started school this week, and I guess that means summer is officially over. I’m also marking the end of our summer vacation by making one final stop on the WAHM Articles Summer Tour.

This week, I visited Judy H. Wright at her Ask Auntie Artichoke blog. She had two questions for me:

1. How many words SHOULD your articles be?

2. For ebooks, how important is having an ISBN number?

You can read my answers here.

Thanks for following me along on my summer tour! I hope you learned some new things, and discovered some new blogs.

… is no secret at all.

You have to like what you do.

I love to write.

That’s why I don’t mind spending hours hunched over my keyboard searching for the right words, to make an article sound just the way my client wants. Or tossing a draft and starting from scratch when a subject took on a mind of its own and I have to reclaim it. Or getting up at 4 am to write in the dark, just because that’s when the idea I needed finally struck.

If you’re starting a home business, choose a business that you will enjoy. Something you won’t mind doing hour after hour, day after day.

Something that you will “not dislike” when the customers are grumpy and the money is tight.

Something you will never tire of working hard at to improve your skills and become one of the best in your particular market.

That, I believe, is the secret to building a successful business, whatever business you are in.

Oh, and good content doesn’t hurt either. Come by and check out my ghostwriting services.

Did you know… the best way to guarantee your income stream is to create multiple income streams. That way, if one avenue slows down, or if you want to take some time off, you’ll still have income coming in from other sources.

I’ve been learning about a sideline you can add to your existing home business (or use to create a new business) that will help you make thousands more dollars a year.

Derek Gehl and his team of experts have spent the past few months analyzing the latest developments and changes at eBay. They’ve taken what they’ve learned and created a simple, three-step system you can follow to rake in a healthy chunk of the $60 billion that exchanges hands on eBay every year.

The best part is, he’s laid out the entire system in a set of training videos that you can watch, for free!

I’ve just finished watching the first video where he reveals the number one mistake that nearly every new “eBayer” makes. (Here’s a clue: You want to avoid the so-called “hot” products!)

I haven’t seen videos two and three yet, but Derek promises to:

• teach you how to find hungry markets that are begging to buy what you’re selling
• reveal how to take advantage of the recent changes at eBay right away (while everyone else is scrambling to get up-to-speed.)
• answer some of the questions that viewers are posting in his blog (Here’s your chance to ask an expert!)

If you’re looking for a way to add an additional stream of income from your existing website - or make money with no website at all - I invite you to watch these videos for yourself. Enjoy!

http://www.wahm-articles.com/ebay-videos.html

Remember, you can get increased traffic and more sales from your current home business by submitting your WAHM articles at WAHM-Articles.com: http://www.wahm-articles.com/login.php

Today definitely did NOT go as planned!

Hubby was going to a conference in Hamilton, Ontario, so we left early this morning to get him to the airport on time. Calgary traffic is crazy at any hour, and sometimes I’m amazed I’ve managed to live here for 14 years without being in an accident.

Until today.

Everyone was OK, but there’s some damage on the van. According to my doctor, I have whiplash, so I’m starting physiotherapy tomorrow.

When we drive, we’re always careful to look out for our physical safety.

But have you thought to protect yourself from typing injuries while you’re working from home?

It’s something I’m very aware of… Back in the days when I had a “real job” (LOL) many of my co-workers developed repetitive strain injuries. One of my friends was so badly injured, she wasn’t even able to pick up a phone for several months.

Just like you automatically buckle your seatbelt when you get into your car, it’s important to take preventative measures when you work at a keyboard all day.

Some easy ways to protect yourself are:

• take breaks when you begin to feel soreness in your hands or your wrists
• set up your desk so your body is in a comfortable, and safe position
• see a healthcare provider if you begin to feel pain when you type

I found this brochure that gives a good explanation of what the dangers are, and how you can prevent them: Prevent Typing Injuries

As for me, I’m giving my poor neck a break for the afternoon, and curling up with a nice, warm heating pad.

The kids and I watched the movie Cool Runnings again last night. It’s a family favorite since it’s about the Jamaican bobsled team that debuted in the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary. The majority of the movie was filmed here in Calgary as well. (BTW, no one I know goes to that revolving restaurant just for coffee!)

One of my favorite scenes, and the turning point in the movie, was when the Jamaican team realized they could only be successful if they stopped trying to bobsled like the other teams, and found their own style.

To paraphrase a few lines of the movie…

If you look Jamaican, if you walk Jamaican, if you talk Jamaican, you had better bobsled Jamaican.

If you want to be successful in article marketing, find your own voice. Sound like yourself.

If you look like (insert your name here), if you walk like (insert your name here), if you talk like (insert your name here) you had better write articles like (insert your name here).

This week, I was also invited to the Direct Sales Ideas and Tips blog, owned by WAHM Articles author Audrey Okaneko.

Audrey writes articles to promote her direct sales business, but the information I shared with her can be applied to any business.

In particular, she wanted to know:

Since readers only skim online articles, what is the perfect article length to keep their attention?

and…

What are the pro’s and con’s of submitting your article to every directory out there?

You can read my thoughts on those two questions here.

WAHM Articles is still on tour, and last week I stopped at Buckeye V.A. , owned by Stephanie Fish, to answer some of Stephanie’s article marketing questions.

As a Virtual Assistant, Stephanie knows it’s important to write and submit online articles, but she wanted to know…

1. What should you look for in a ghostwriter?

2. How often should a business owner submit articles?

You can read what I told her here.

The Buckeye V.A. blog also has a lot of good information about working with a Virtual Assistant - such as how to know if you’re ready for one, and how to prepare for outsourcing your work.

If you’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed by your business lately, you might find some solutions while you’re there!

Yes, I do know it’s July. But, it’s never to early to start planning!

WAHM Articles is publishing an e-book, and you’re invited to be a part of it!

This is an ideal opportunity to get additional exposure for your business, support WAHM Articles, AND make some Christmas cash for yourself as an affiliate.

All you need to do is send me your best tips, ideas and stories about how to have a simplified, but meaningful Christmas.

I would like to compile your stories and ideas into an e-book written by the WAHM Articles authors.

You will not be paid for your contribution, BUT you will be invited to sell the e-book as an affiliate at 75% commission, once it’s completed in October. Only contributors will be able to sell it as an affiliate.

I’ll also publish your photo, your resource box, and one active link along with your article. You’ll get your own copy of the book, too.

Profits from this e-book will go towards supporting the article directory and forum at WAHM Articles.

If you would like to participate, please send me your Christmas stories or tips by September 30, 2008. Your submission should be at least 300 words.

Since this book will be “by the WAHM Articles authors” you must have an account at WAHM Articles in order to participate in this e-book. Signing up for an author account is still free.

September 30 is the firm deadline for your submissions, so I can compile the e-book and get it back to you in time to sell before Christmas.

Now enjoy the rest of your summer!

Update Sept 1/08: I’ll be working with Diana Ennen of Virtual Word Publishing to get publicity for this book and for your business too! If you haven’t submitted yet, there’s still time.

Yesterday, I wrote about how giving away a compelling free report can help you turn your visitors into buyers.

Once you have your free report in hand, it’s time to start spreading the word.

In your author’s resource box, at the end of each article you write, tell your readers about your free report and invite them to your website to claim their own copy.

Some article marketers like to include a link that goes directly to the sign up page for the report. Whatever you use for a landing page, make sure it’s obvious to your new visitor where they can request your report.

You’ll want to use an autoresponder like aWeber to capture their email address. You can set up your autoresponder so that the report is emailed to the new visitor once they submit their email address.

And voila! Suddenly you have a list of potential clients, that you can follow up with, and give them more information about how your business can help them reach their goals and solve their problems.

At the bottom of each article in the WAHM Articles directory is this text:

This article may be reprinted for free so long as the author’s resource box is kept intact and all links remain live and clickable.

Unfortunately, not all online publishers remember to do so. Sometimes they will reprint the text version of the article instead of the html version, which means our authors are losing out on valuable backlinks and potential visitors.

Here’s an easy change you can make to your resource box to help make sure you do get that all-important link back to your site:

Include the full url to your website in your resource box.

It’s now recommended to have two links in your resource box - one with anchor text and one that’s the full url

For example, one of my resource boxes is:

Visit http:// www. wahm-articles. com for reprint articles moms want to read. WAHM Articles also offers a ghostwriting service that specializes in creating original mom content. (and “ghostwriting service” links to my sales page for my ghostwriting)

If someone reprints the article and doesn’t remember to include the links, the full url (the one that starts with http://) will remain active on most websites.

If you do this, though, it’s important to remember that WAHM Articles and some other directories don’t accept resource boxes that contain two links to the same page.