Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents

Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
If you are looking to start a home business and are a parent, you may have to make special considerations. You will need to be able to work without punching a clock or having to be available at particular hours, otherwise, you’ll have to get a babysitter. If you don’t want to hire help, you will definitely have some special challenges. But, it’s not impossible. In fact here are the top ten home business ideas for you that don’t require clock punching, or answering to anyone but yourself.

Stock Photographer

Stock photography is used in numerous applications, from websites and blogs to print ads. The demand is quite high for good and unique photographs to use for these reasons. Therefore, most stock photography companies allow independent contractors to upload pictures for sale on their websites. You can also start your own website offering the images for use.

Graphic Designer

Designers are needed everywhere; the demand is high. If you’re good with using creative software to make webpages, advertisements, banners, book covers (eBook and paper) and more, you can work for many companies at the same time performing these services. While it’s deadline based, you can still work at 3 am if you need to.

Freelance Writer

As a freelance writer, there are many different opportunities today based on your skill level. You can write for so-called content mills, individuals looking for writers, as a copywriter writing specific sales copy, or you can write for yourself and publish your own books as PDFs or via Kindle Direct Publishing.

Arts and Craft Seller

If you’re artsy and like creating art, you can do more than just create. You can sell, and you can make bank. Sites like Etsy.com, DeviantArt.com, and Art.com make it easy for individuals to upload pictures of their work to sell. You are responsible for shipping it on time, and you’ll give a percentage of sales to the website you list on. You can also start your own website but usually, you’ll make sales faster working through an established and trusted venue.

Amazon Seller

Fulfillment by Amazon has started a trend in individuals selling both new and used merchandise through their service. Learning how to sell on Amazon can take a little time but there are people who are making six-plus figures doing it, and you can too. This is something you can do on your own time, with your children in tow.

eBay Seller

Yes, eBay is still around, selling on eBay is a little harder than the other choices, but many people do it successfully as a full-time job. If you have access to the right products, you can do it too. Again, this is something you can do on your own time. The only thing that might take a lot of work on your part is packing and shipping.

Lifestyle Blogger

You’ve likely seen the movie, “Julie & Julia” right? Well, Julie started out as just another blogger, blogging about her adventures cooking from Julia Child’s cookbook. She became very popular, sold the rights to her story, and a movie was made. She made money off the deal, of course. Today, bloggers blog about all sorts of things and earn money through advertising, affiliate marketing, and product promotions. You can, too.

Herb Gardner

This work-at-home business takes a little time and work, but it’s healthy, the children can help, and you can make about 60K a year from your back yard if it’s allowed in your area. You can sell at farmers’ markets but you can also sell directly to restaurants if you plan and market right.

Virtual Assistant

If you’re detail-oriented and like to work at your computer, the life of a virtual assistant might be for you. Don’t want to be tied to one office or person all day, every day? Consider becoming a virtual assistant, which allows you a more flexible work environment.

Social Media Manager

If you love social media, consider starting a social media management business. You’ll be paid to hag out on your favourite platforms, all day! It doesn’t require a large investment or special equipment to get started, especially if you already have a computer and internet service.

Working from home is often a parent’s dream. They can be near their kids, not have to work by someone else’s clock, and still, earn enough money to not only pay for needed items but vacations, dream cars, and more.

It might be time for you to consider starting your own business. I know it was the best decision I ever made for me and my family! If you are unsure where to start, take a peek at the Studio’s resource page, there is plenty there to help you get started today.

Tell me, if you could start your own business TODAY – with nothing stopping you, what business would you launch?

I’d love to hear from you, tell me in the comments or join us over in the Studio Workshop, my free Facebook group for women in business!

Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents

Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?

Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?
I have a quick tip for you today that will come in handy as you’re working on getting ahead on your blogging. It’s using the draft feature. Yes, it’s handy that WordPress and most other blogging platforms have a way to save your posts as drafts so you can continue to work on it over the course of a few days. It’s even better that they usually auto-save for you – at least it is in my case. But there’s another great way to use the draft feature.

You can use drafts to get ahead of the blogging game in several different ways.

Let’s start with the most obvious one.

Use Drafts to Work on Your Next Blog Post (or Two)

The most obvious way to use drafts is, of course, to work on your current blog post until it is ready to publish. But don’t just stop there. If you know you have a busy day tomorrow or later on in the week, go ahead and give yourself a head start by creating a draft and working on it here and there as you can fit it in your busy day. You’ll be glad you did when it comes time to wrap up that particular post.

Use Drafts to Plan Out Your Week

You can also use drafts to plan out your blogging for the week. Let’s say you want to post 5 times per week. Come up with 5 topics and create a draft for each. Then start working on them, making sure you wrap up and publish at least one of the posts on each of your publishing days.

Not only will this keep you on track and show you at a glance what you’ll be blogging about this week, but it also allows you to work on multiple posts throughout the week, giving you options when you get stuck on writing one post.

Use Drafts as A Way of Storing Blog Post Ideas

Let’s wrap this up with my favourite way to use the draft feature. And that’s to use it as a storage container for ideas for future blog posts. Here’s how to do it. When you get an idea for a blog post, go ahead and create a draft. Come up with a working title and make a quick note of what your blog post will be about. If you’re feeling ambitious, go ahead and write a quick outline for the post. Then save it as a draft.

To be honest, I have over 75 drafts sitting in my post calendar! Some are just titles, some are full blow written blogs that just need to be formatted. This makes it super easy when I am “not in the mood” to write, I can choose one, format, and publish.

Do this anytime you come up with an idea and save them for later. Then whenever you need something to blog about, browse through your drafts and pick one of these.
The idea is there and you may even have done some of the writing already. These drafts make for fast blog posts and are just the thing when you’re suffering from writer’s block.

Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to read 52 Blog Ideas for your business, who couldn’t use 52 blog ideas? Or just head straight to the Classroom to download the PDF!

Now, hop into the Studio Workshop and let us know, have you always been a drafter?

30 Day Blogging Bootcamp
Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?

P.S. Did you know I offer a 30 Day Blogging Bootcamp? The Bootcamp provides you with 30 Days of tips, tricks and tools to keep your blog working. In it, you learn how to provide consistency, easily keep your commitment and find clarity.

So, why not sign up and start building your blog and your confidence online.

30 Day Blogging Bootcamp ($27)

5 Ways to Maximize Your Presence in Facebook Groups.

5 Ways to Maximize Your Presence in Facebook GroupsMaximize Your Presence in Facebook Groups
Use these tips to really maximize your presence in Facebook groups – and have the group owner love you for it.

Check Group Descriptions for Hashtags

If the group you belong to has themes for specific days of the week, make sure you check the group description to see if there’s a hashtag you should preface your theme posts with on that particular day.

Using the hashtag will not only please your group owner and moderators, but it will also ensure your post reach is targeted to those specifically searching for that hashtag (and by doing so, potentially reaching a wider audience, too).

Use Repetition

Whenever you submit a regular type of post to a group—such as a link to your Tuesday Tech Tip—use repetition to build trust and reassurance in your post. Use the same intro (e.g. “Time for my Tuesday Tech Tip.”) Use the same graphic—for example, an avatar icon such as a smiling cartoon monkey with a wrench, or your logo.

Repetition through repeating themes or post types will soon have those who enjoyed your first few offerings looking forward to the next one and being primed to check out each new post.

Always Check Photo and Graphics Licensing

When using photographs from either free or paid stock sites, watch out for the designation, “for editorial use only.” This means a photo cannot be used for “commercial advertising purposes”—only for educational and journalistic purposes.

Remove Links in Posts

Have you ever typed the link of something you want to share into a post, only to have a graphic box appear showing your post? If that happens, you can then delete your pasted-in link text before you press “Post.” Not only will your post be nice and “clean,” the image will remain linked and take them to the post or website you wanted to share.

Note: If you find you can’t actually do this from within a group because of permissions, post the link to your page instead, and share the desired link via your page.

There you have it! Five simple ways to boost your visibility in public Facebook Groups, without upsetting the admin.

Do you have any other tips you would like to share? Comment below and tell me – I’d love to hear from you!

5 Ways to Maximize Your Presence in Facebook Groups

Stop Compromising Your Happiness

Stop Compromising Your Happiness
Did you know you could be compromising your own happiness without even realizing it?
If you constantly find yourself feeling unhappy and dissatisfied with your life, it’s worth looking within yourself.

Discover 4 things that could be compromising your happiness right now.

That Inner Critic

We all have an inner critic and sometimes it can be pretty hard to ignore. It’s constantly there judging you and making you doubt your own abilities.

It’s true, we’re often our own worst enemies and listening to your inner critic is only going to crush your happiness. So, how can you stop yourself from listening to this negative inner voice?

When you notice that inner voice telling you negative things, contradict it. Think something positive to counteract that negative thought or judgment. Replacing negativity with positivity will help you to start fighting back against your inner critic.

Playing it Safe

Do you avoid taking new opportunities out of fear? Playing it safe may feel like the best course of action, but it could be really jeopardizing your happiness.

It’s often the fear of failure which stops us from going after the things we want. However, if you start seeing failure as a positive learning experience, you’ll start taking more opportunities. You’ll never know what you can achieve if you don’t even try.

So, stop playing it safe. Take those opportunities. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Focusing on the Past or Future

While it’s normal and healthy to look back in the past or towards the future, it’s important not to lose sight of the present. The trouble is, if you’re too focused on the past or the future, you’re not going to be able to enjoy right now.

The past cannot be changed, and the future cannot be controlled. However, right now at this very moment, you can choose to be happy. So, stop beating yourself up over the past and stop worrying about what’s to come. Live in the moment and see just how much happier you feel.

Over-Dramatizing Things

In life, things do go wrong. It’s impossible to be happy 100% of the time. However, some of us have a habit of over-dramatizing the negative experiences in our life.

Do you find that when the smallest things don’t go your way, you think to yourself “that’s it, everything is falling apart”? Blow the littlest things out of proportion and convince yourself it’s worse than it really is. It’s a big drain on your happiness and all you’re doing is worrying too much over nothing. (I’ve been there, and live every day making the conscious decision to keep the over-dramatization of things under control.)

These are just 4 things that could be compromising your happiness. What you need to remember is that you control your happiness. So, make the decision to stop making these mistakes and learn to let things go if you truly want to be happier.

Have some more tips on how to not compromise happiness? Join us inside the Studio Workshop Facebook Group and please share! We’d love to hear from you!

Stop Compromising Your Happiness

For more great articles and resources – check out my resource page!

Do you have a Vision Board?

Do you have a Vision Board

Do you have specific goals? If so, do you have a Vision Board?
If not, think about what you want simply by asking yourself some questions:

• Where do you want to be with your business in the next year? In 5 years? In 10 years?
• How much money do you want to make in these same time frames?
• Do you want to hire employees or a virtual team?
• What services or products do you want to offer your clients?
• Where do you want to live?
• What’s on that bucket list?

One friend of mine who is in sales told me he likes to have two vacations booked a year with his family because he needs something fun to look forward to and the single summer vacation wasn’t enough anymore. Another friend in direct sales recently told me that she stopped dreaming big a long time ago because she got depressed when she couldn’t make those dreams a reality. Now she’s found great success with her company and has started dreaming big again.

I’ve also seen some gurus online say they are motivated to earn more because then they are able to give more to their favourite charities and causes that are close to their hearts. Again, there are no wrong answers when defining your goals. It’s more important to have them defined so you know when you reach those goals so you can find something new to achieve.

Create a Vision Board for Daily Motivation

Jack Canfield, the New York Times Bestselling Author of the “Chicken Soup For The Soul” book series, is a big believer in the power of vision boards.

Canfield said “Creating a vision board is probably one of the most valuable visualization tools available to you.” The Law of Attraction is a powerful thing. Our thoughts can lead to amazing things.

Simply put, the Law of Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on. The Law of Attraction which uses the power of the mind to translate whatever is in our thoughts and materialize them into reality. In basic terms, all thoughts turn into things eventually. If you focus on negative doom and gloom you will remain under that cloud. If you focus on positive thoughts and have goals that you aim to achieve you will find a way to achieve them with massive action.

This is why the universe is such an infinitely beautiful place!

I adore creating vision boards because they are visual reminders of what you want to achieve. They also serve as a daily reminder of what makes you happy and they are meant to give you motivation when you just don’t feel like working that day.

Take those answers to the goals questions above and find visual representation for each one. In today’s digital age, most of us use Pinterest and create a vision board there. Some still love to use photos and magazine images onto poster board or even to paste images into a Word document. Do what works for you – what will motivate you. What you will see every single day.

When creating your board, take notice of photos that catch your eye, even if it doesn’t specifically answer a goal question. There’s something that attracted your subconscious to the photo so it’s worth posting on your vision board. Post your vision board prominently in your office or as your computer wallpaper so you can see it every day. And remember that action is mandatory in order to reach those goals.

[Tweet ““Creating a vision board is probably one of the most valuable visualization tools available to you.” Jack Canfield”]

P.S. It is also a great idea to check out this blog post about goal setting and happiness!

https://www.thevirtualstudio.ca/how-goal-setting-can-help-in-the-pursuit-of-happiness/

Do you have a Vision Board

Do you have a Captivating Vision Board

5 Ways to Raise Your Rates

Raising your rates is never just about asking for more money or hiking a fee. It’s all about moving to the next level of your business at the right time, with both you and your clients feeling good about it.

In the Business Session, Raise Your Rates – 7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes, included is a list of 21 Ways to take action. Here are the first five!

1. Know Your True Worth

Before you raise your rates, create a specific goal for the new annual figure you arrive at. That means knowing your “why”, doing research on your competitors and reaffirming your ideal client. Know both your actual value in terms of what you do and your past experience and accreditations and your perceived value to your ideal client. The more specific you are and the more carefully you analyze every facet, the more you will actually realize your own worth and appreciate yourself, your journey and where you are today.

2. Ask with Confidence

You do not owe anyone an explanation for your rates; nor do you have to apologize. In fact, if you feel like you want to apologize, you haven’t done all the homework in tip number one. Confidence comes from a place of knowledge.

3. Always Add Value When You Raise Your Rates

If you want clients and new prospects to accept your rates without quibbling, show them the increased value, and focus on how this will move them closer to their big results.
Again, do the research to find out exactly what would be the most value-enhancing addition in your ideal client’s eyes.

4. What to Say When Clients Return to Higher Prices after an Absence

If a client comes back to you after being away for a while, don’t lead off with the rate hike that happened in the interim. First, reaffirm that you would love to work with them again; then announce your rate hike as a matter of course. (“By the way, my rates have gone up since we last worked together, to $XXX an hour.”)

Don’t start explaining why. Treat it as a casual fact, because it is. Stop speaking and wait for your client’s reaction. If they protest, let them know you understand if they need time to think about it. Put the ball in their court.

5. Count Your Successes

If you’re having trouble justifying a price hike to yourself, first think of your successes. Write down who you’ve worked with, how you helped them and what you helped them do. Then write down their ‘Before’ and ‘After’ results. When you’ve done that, raise your rates to reflect the value you now realize you habitually provide.

I know that raising your fees and prices is a topic that many entrepreneurs find stressful to think about.

Even if you are totally ready to go ahead and raise your rates, it’s a big step. Lurking at the back of your mind are thoughts like, “What if my clients say ‘no’?” or, “What if no one signs up for my mastermind group?” “What if I lose customers?”

Let me help you eliminate groundless fears by showing you how to plan your rate hikes based on solid criteria that your market can happily afford.

Business Training $55

This session has been created to help you to build a successful business. I recommend you follow the 4-week calendar and incorporate the session’s training into your day to day business. Then they become a part of your everyday tasks. Now, dive in and grow your business!

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5 Ways to Raise Your Rates

Showcase Your Expertise

Your Credibility and Experience is the Key to a Growing Business

Think about the last time you hired a contractor, either for your business or to do something around your home. Did you look for the lowest price, or did you look for someone with experience? Did you check the contractor’s references, or just take his word at face value?

You likely have heard the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” and usually, when you hire someone simply based on the lowest price, you’ll get someone who’s not as experienced as the higher-priced contractor. Lack of experience can lead to mistakes, and sometimes they are costly. And let’s face it, not everybody is as honest as you are, so if you’re not checking references, you might get scammed.

What’s the lesson here? Successful businesses stay afloat when they gain years of experience and build their credibility with their audience.

No matter what stage of business you’re in today, whether you just opened your doors or have had a string of clients for years, today is the day to concentrate on building your credibility and sharing your expertise with the world.

Download Step one of the Showcase Your Expertise Bootcamp and start building your credibility today.

Be proud of your success and start sharing it with your audience.

Step ONE: Identify Your Zone of Genius.

Looking for more? Check out the entire course inside the Virtual Studio Classroom below!

Showcase Your Expertise

P.S. Why not stop over in The Leave the 9-5 Facebook Group/Workshop and share with us your Zone of Genius!

Showcase Your Expertise

Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients

We’ve all experienced less-than-stellar clients who have the highest expectations but feel we can do nothing right. They make demand after demand but don’t listen when we try to reinforce our business boundaries. Or they aren’t happy with the results, even when we completed the task based on their exacting demands.

Toxic clients like these suck the joy out of business and that translates into sucking the joy out of life in general because you’re spending your free time stressing about them. Regain your business sanity and your life’s joy by taming these toxic clients or dropping them altogether.

What?! How Can I Drop a Client?

Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the famous quote, “When one door closes, another one opens.” Quite simply, if you drop a toxic client, another client will find their way to you. It may not happen the next day or by magic but you’ll have more time to market yourself and show your audience that you have an immediate opening to fill. If you have worked consistently in providing value to your audience, they will jump at the chance to work with you.

Alternately, you can drop the toxic client and spend that newfound time creating your signature product; or focus on writing emails to your list with valuable offers; or look for media opportunities to share your expertise, maybe on podcasts or as a guest blogger. You deserve respect, not to be run over by rude clients.

Can a Toxic Client be Tamed?

If you prefer to maintain a relationship with a toxic client, you’ll need to grow some thick skin and reinforce your boundaries. And if you don’t have any business boundaries, now is the time to set them!

For example, do you answer emails or text messages at all hours of the day? Stop it! Set business hours and tell your clients when they can expect a response. I recommend responding within 24 hours but if you don’t work weekends, tell your clients that you’ll respond only on business days.

What other crazy demands does this client expect of you? Create a solution you can work with and inform all your clients about these changes. If they are also business owners, they will likely respect and understand your need for boundaries. If they don’t, maybe it’s time to cut them loose.

Make Changes to Onboarding Clients

If you have a history of attracting toxic clients, reflect on WHY these clients find you as well as why YOU accept these types of clients. Are they part of your ideal target market? Is your pricing set too low? Are you asking enough questions about THEIR their needs? Are you desperate for money and afraid to say no to anyone?

Reflect on the answers and make solid changes to your business policies and practices. Determine your ideal client; research if your prices are competitive; do you have an onboarding process where you interview these clients, and determine why you can’t say no to prospects. Not only should clients interview YOU to determine if you’re a good fit but you should use this chance to interview THEM. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about what their needs are but also follow your gut instinct.

Most importantly, use a contract to spell out exactly what you spoke about, what they expect from you, and include your boundaries so there are no hidden surprises. Even though you want to build a successful business, remember that YOU are in charge of who you work with.

Do you have a story on how “firing a client” has had a positive effect on your business? I would love to hear it! Leave a comment or visit us inside the TVS Workshop Community.

Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients

7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes – A TVS Business Program

7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes
Raising your fees and prices is a topic that many entrepreneurs find stressful to think about. So, what do we do? We put it off.

This business course will help you eliminate groundless fears by showing you how to plan your rate hikes based on solid criteria that your market can happily afford. I am so excited about this program that I am going to share step one of seven here on the blog!

Step One: Reconnaissance

The first step is to know where your services and products fit in your market. This requires not only knowing your ideal client or customer but also your competition. While you are not going to base your rates on competition alone, it’s important to know where you fit in in your market – and especially where your current pricing sits in the marketplace.

Let’s take a look at some common scenarios:

You’re starving for clients. You check your competition and discover you’re asking almost double their rates.
You’re starving for clients. You check your competition and discover you are asking well below your competitors’ rates.
You’re swamped with clients, burned out, and stressed: They’re just too demanding. You check your competition and discover you are asking well below your competitors’ rates.
You’re charging a fair market rate compared to your competitors, but you just can’t make ends meet and you can’t possibly fit in another client.

Notice that in all these scenarios, a necessary step in identifying the problem is to check out your competitors’ rates and prices – as well as what they are offering.

There’s nothing wrong with doing reconnaissance to find out where you stand in relation to your competitors. Don’t do anything questionable, like asking your assistant to book discovery calls with them, don’t be shady. That will get you nowhere fast… But DO spend some time properly researching what they charge and identifying why.

First, let’s look at why the previous four common scenarios leave you cash-starved.
If you are:

Starving for clients and charging double your competitors’ rates…

You may not be providing double the value
You may not be presenting yourself as worth the extra dollars
You don’t have a strong-enough unique benefit or difference to offer

Starving for clients and charging well below your competitors’ rates…

You’re telling your competitors’ clients (and everyone else) you’re not worth much
You may not be visible enough
You may have mindset problems

Swamped with demanding clients who never seem to progress, and you’re asking well below your competitors’ rates…

You’re attracting the wrong clientele completely
You’re not respecting your own time, expertise and expenses
You may have mindset problems

Can’t make ends meet, even though you discover you’re charging a fair market rate and can’t fit in another client…

You’re investing too many resources into your service
You aren’t paying attention to your expenses
You’re doing too much one-on-one and not enough passive income

The last scenario is really the ideal one to be in! If you’ve actually got a waitlist and you’re swamped, but you’re having trouble making ends meet, you can pretty much write your own ticket and raise your rates straight away – but first, provide passive-income versions of your services, to train and prepare the clients on your waiting list how to be your ideal client, while helping them get there!

Ditto if your programs are the best they can be and you’re providing all the value you can provide, but you’re still turning people away. Raise your rates and skip ahead to Step Five.

But don’t worry if that’s not you:
Raise Your Rates – 7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes deals with other scenarios too. In fact, by the end of the session, you’ll have a good idea of exactly what is stopping you from raising your prices, and how to correct that.

So, take action, head over to the studio and get started on the program, and the remaining 6 steps, tonight!

Don’t forget to join us in the Studio Workshop and brainstorm with other entrepreneurs on hiking your rates!

7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
It’s a new year with a new vision!

It is that time again. Time to make New Year’s resolutions and start fresh. Everywhere you go you will be asked: “What are your New Year resolutions?” Why? Because that is just how it is. This year, my answer will be different than it has been in the past and I suggest you do the same. When asked what this year’s resolutions will be, I will have one simple answer:

No resolutions this year.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I made a New Year’s resolution that lasted longer than a couple of weeks, can you? This is why I say ditch the resolution and kickstart the year with something that will move your business forward.

Instead of yet another ill-fated resolution, articulate a vision. The good thing about having a vision, instead of a resolution, is they are broad and can evolve as you and your business grow. If you consider your vision with every action you take, you are more likely to move in that direction.

People are goal-driven and accomplished goals, big and small, keep the momentum going. So, create a vision and set the first goal to make it happen. Make it a SMART goal. SMART being specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited. These goals can only be achieved if specific actions have been taken to ensure it is accomplished within a timeline. They are easy to track and will be stepping stones to a broader destination, your vision.

So, write it down, create a vision board, yell it from the rooftops, whatever your method is – get started and create a vision. I would love to hear about it, so please share! We can accomplish goals and carry out our visions together.

Wishing you a new year rich with the blessings of love, joy, warmth, laughter, and success.

P.S. Be sure to check out the Studio’s all-new Resources Page and the TVS Workshop Community!

Stock Photographer

Graphic Designer

Freelance Writer

Arts and Craft Seller

Amazon Seller

eBay Seller

Lifestyle Blogger

Herb Gardner

Virtual Assistant

Social Media Manager

Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents