Okay, maybe famous is pushing it a little … how about … let me show you and your biz off a bit!

I’m in the process of writing an ebook about creating Membership Sites for my upcoming website launch.  While working on it the other evening I got to the idea section.  This section is basically a list of membership site ideas as well as an explanation of some of the things you could include in that particular membership site.  I was also thinking - and if you don’t know this already – one thing you can do to jazz up an ebook is to include pictures.  So yeah – gotta get some pics too.

One of the ideas is to create a personal training membership website.  Immediately I thought of one of my best friend’s online … @busymommaval  Val is a personal training as well as she does a lot of business coaching online.  (Hence the nickname I gave her at MommysHelperCommunity.com - Coach Val).

Then I began thinking of a few others I know who are in professional fields such as @LynnTerry & @AureliaW.  After a few Twitter DMs they’re all for it!  The three of them are gonna hook me up with a picture of them “providing their services”.

So, in keeping with the theme here, I thought I’d try to find a few more people.  I’m needing people who are involved in the following fields:

• Freelancer/Telecommuter – Looking for a picture of you working at your computer.
• Frugal Living/Budgeting/Investing Website - Looking for a site logo/ad button.
• Dating/Relationship Website – Looking for a site logo/ad button.
• Travel Website – Looking for a site logo/ad button … or maybe even just a picture of someone boarding a plane or a bus … or any other ideas … just as long as it’s something to do with traveling of course.
• Medical Advice Website – Looking for a site logo/ad button.
• Writer/Author  – Looking for someone who has a website about them being an author/writer.  I could use a site logo/ad button … or maybe even a picture of you with a pen/pencil in hand.

If you’re involved with any of these fields and have a picture already of something that it’s easy to read into “this is what I do” … I am open to any other suggestions.

The only catch is I need these pictures as soon as possible.  Oh and I’m a big stickler to giving credit where credit is due so I will most certainly include your name, business name and website address in the ebook as well.  (Actually, it will be in two ebooks.)

So if you’re interested, feel free to post a comment here or send me a DM at twitter.  My Twitter ID is @anitadefrank  Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Okay before I even go on here, I have to say … NO! I do not need another social network! I especially don’t need another social network that seriously resembles Twitter.

Here’s the deal for me. At times social networking can so get in the way of my biz work. Sometimes I have to force myself to turn off Twitter and force myself to KEEP it off.

I love all my friends and business collegues to death – love ya all! (I also LOVE Twitter!)

But I remember a while back …

You HAVE to get a MySpace account! You just have to! I want to friend request you!

… so, I got a MySpace account …
Luckily with the MySpace account I did not waste too much time. I did waste some but not too much.

It also needs to be made special note here that in between MySpace & Twitter, there were a TON of requests that I had gotten every single day for every new social network on the face of the Earth. And if you remember correctly, there were new ones popping up literally every single day. I got extremely tired of them to be quite blunt here.

Twitter! You must Tweet! You have to Twitter so I can follow you!

… so, I sign up to Twitter …
And again, I *love* my Twitter! And I love how I’ve finally taught myself that I can leave Twitter and still keep up with the important things I want to.

Facebook! Facebook! I love Facebook! This from the people who were begging me to get on MySpace!

I will more than likely get on Facebook but right now I have a site I have to launch and then I’ll be there if I want to.

Am I going to be bombarded soon with Buzz requests? Or whatever they’re called? I have a sneaking feeling I am.

Listen, I’m all about social networking. I think done properly it definitely has it’s pluses on a business-side. Done properly and used within reason. If you’re focusing all your business efforts on social networking only. Buck up cause you’re gonna wish you hadn’t put all your eggs in one basket some day. Don’t believe me now? That’s fine cause if you don’t … that simply means I’m not going to change your mind and I personally don’t have the time to try.

But … that’s a WHOLE other ballpark all together.

Back to Google Buzz …

Now wait, just a second … BUZZ?
Looks like Twitter, Sounds like Yahoo! … Smells like Google??
(Yahoo! Buzz that is.)

Things that make ya go hmm …

Okay, now we’re really back to Google Buzz Are they murdering Twitter? That’s certainly more than I can ever predict. But some of my (own personal) thoughts are …

- Twitter is just fine as is and I’m happy with it.

- Hmmm … nice updgrades from Twitter. But that comes with a but … one of the the main things I like most about Twitter is that it is so quick and easy. Sure, more functions might be nice for some but for me, that’s just more time.

- I do NOT want to start all over in another “Twitter-like” platform or any new social network for that matter.

- And I’m sorry but … Google, get your own idea! Did you really feel that threatened by Twitter? Were they in that much direct competition that you needed to create something just like it but “so-called better”?

And did you really feel the need to rub it in Twitter’s face by saying: “Go Beyond Status Messages”? Sorry but yeah, me personally, I took offense to that.

I could go on and on and on here … but I won’t. I’m sure the big plus many are going to like is the fact that it’s so compatible with Gmail. Works right with your Gmail account. Guess what? I don’t HAVE a Gmail account. wait – back up – that’s wrong. I do have a Gmail account but I don’t use it.

So, am I going to have my Yahoo email account open and my Gmail account open all the time so I can keep up with Buzz. Uh, probably not.

Researching a bit, I also found out about a big boo boo Google did …

According to BusinessInsider.com:
“In other words, before you change any settings in Google Buzz, someone could go into your profile and see the people you email and chat with most.”

Oops! I’m sorry, a Google spokesperson asked them to rephrase their complaint … er, I mean their claim differently. In response, BusinessInsider.com chose this wording instead:
“In other words, after you create your profile in Buzz, if you don’t edit any of the default settings, someone could visit your profile and see the people you email and chat with most (provided you didn’t edit this list during profile creation).”

Don’t panic too badly just yet though, BusinessInsider.com also provides you with instructions on how to immediately make these lists private and then edit them.

I, like Nicolas Carlson of BusinessInsider.com am shocked that Google sees nothing wrong with this. Simply put, Google wanted to make things easier on us so we can “immediately see content from the people they {we} chat with most”.

Thanks but no thanks Google, when it comes to my privacy, I’m fine with clicking a couple more checkboxes.

The fact that I have to sign a Privacy Act everywhere I go – well, almost everywhere. I’m sure the day will come when I have to sign a Privacy Act at my favorite local drive-thru promising me none of their employees will ever share my favorite drive-thru goody. Exaggerating? Maybe, but what do you think? And Google seems to think this is okay?

Click here to have a looksee at their full response …
(Bottom of post)

And FYI – Twitter offers basically the same thing w/ my Yahoo account but guess what? I get to pick and choose who I want!

It’s following the simple steps of:
1. Click Find People
2. Click Find Friends
3. Entering my email and password (over a secure server) and tada!
There’s my email contacts that may or may not be on Twitter that I may or MAY NOT want to connect with and again … I get to pick and choose who I want.

I don’t want everyone knowing everyone I deal with on a regular basis – especially in a business sense.

Do you want everyone to know where you buy all those super-hard-to-find purple polka-dotted widgets – the ones that took you months of research to find at a deeply discounted wholesale price?

Do you want everyone to know you outsource some of your client work? (You know, the work you pay $5 to have done but your client pays you $20.)

Do you want everyone to know you found this great new PLR website that has extremely well-written content about that super hot new niche?

I could go on and on again and of course some of these things in particular don’t apply to me personally but I know a ton of people who these do apply to and in a very big way.

How about the fact that you and your husband are having … uh, shall I say intimacy problems? You ordered a great new “item” online to “spice up your marriage” and you also decided to subscribe to their “52 Weeks of Spectacular Tricks Sure to Make You Feel Like Newlyweds Again” ecourse. Or maybe this ecourse came “free” with your purchase. Not that any company would do something like this to get you on a list – we’d never do this, right? Hello!?!?

What does almost every online newsletter subscription, ezine or ecourse confirmation email request you do? How about something along the lines of …

“To be sure you get your tips every week, please add: business@businessname.com to your contacts list.”

Look familiar? And just what happens when that particular company decides to add social networking to their marketing plans (that is if they don’t already do so – and who doesn’t?)

Maybe your spouse has … uh, shall I say a problem raising the flag to full mast (to be as polite as possible here) …
Maybe you’re losing your hair …

… Or it could go beyond simple embarrassment …

Maybe you suspect your child is abusing drugs …
Maybe you need help with an alcoholic family member, or you’re a victim of domestic violence or abuse??

And with each of these topics, you’re subscribed to online newsletters.

So maybe I’m exaggerating a bit … but really … am I? These are real life scenerios that could easily happen! I’m not completely making things up here!

And what about children? It’s only a matter of time before this COULD BE the next Twitter. How many teen children are using Twitter? MySpace? Facebook?

Remember my complaint above about “You have to join this new social network!” above? Same thing is happening with our children. Do you want your child’s contact list out public like this? Do you want YOUR child listed on someone else’s contact list?

What happens if a child misses the whole “opt-out” process? Most adults will miss it, gosh knows our kids are probably going to miss it more quickly.

I’m no lawyer here but when you’re involving children here, I do believe this goes way above embarrassment, way above public huimiliation … yeah, above and BEYOND …

Here’s a little tip Google … let me OPT-IN … not OPT-OUT

Of course, this is just my two cents. I’ll step off my soapbox now.

I’m looking for blog owners who are accepting guest bloggers. More specifically I’m looking for the following types of blogs:

Internet Marketing:
All forms, article marketing, affiliate marketing, viral marketing, list marketing, etc. etc. etc.

WAHM:
Anything WAHM related – preferably ones that an internet marketing blog post will fit.

I will be able to provide a copy of the blog post ahead of time for your approval. I will also be giving away free reports to your readers

If you’re interested, please do either of the following:
leave a comment … 
email me at mommyshelperonline @ yahoo.com (without the spaces) with Guest Blogger in the subject line …

Please also include a link to your blog in your message.  

I will be accepting guest bloggers on my blogs in the near future.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Plugin that is … you’re only allowed one. 

If you had to choose one plugin for your WP blog/site … one that you simply could not do without …

What would it be?

Alrighty, it’s time to get real serious!  Actually, I have been serious for quite some time now but this week … this week I plan on kicking some major butt and slimming down that to do list! 

… and yes … I’m talking about slam dunk – nothing but net …

I have a brand new site I am just dying to launch.  I am so excited about this new site for so many reasons. 

• One, it really hits home what I *love* to do online. 
• Two, I’m still going to be doing one of my favorite things to do – which is helping fellow WAHMs rise to the top of the success ladder – and will be doing more of it.  (Actually, not just wahms in general but more like anyone who sells online.)
• Three, I’m finally going to be getting all my “business stuff” online linked together.  Well, this site is only step one of that happening.

Oh I could go on and on here but if I do then I will be just spinning around the ring of the net …

So what’s in store this week? 

• Finally putting the finishing touches on all those reports/ebooks that are so very close to being finished and getting them uploaded.
• Getting them out to my review team for obvious reasons.
• Getting up my squeeze pages (for the giveaway stuff) and my sales pages (for, well I think you know what that’s for, lol!)
• Getting in touch with some blog owners about me doing some guest blogging.

Then if I’m lucky enough to get all that done … it’s time to move onto …

• Getting my affiliate program set up.
• Starting an affiliate center.

I think I better stop there.  If I keep going then I’ll be certain to set myself up for failure.  I’ll start with that and if I get that done … then I can move on.  (And that would be fantastic!!)

So back to work for me … not touching those sides!

Excited yet?  Yeah, me too!  Can’t wait!

What’s in store for you this week?

If you’ve spent any time at all on this blog, you’ll know Anita and I are big fans of of the big players in the business world. GoDaddy for domain names, HostGator for hosting, Wordpress for websites, and Aweber for newsletters. But my “side note” of things I had down to do today ended up in a discovery that made a HUGE difference.

I’ve never been a big fan of popups, popunders, or anything that annoys the crap out of me. Although I’ve been seeing some “less intrusive” means of pop ups that I don’t think are too bad. For some reason being able to click the box off the page itself is less annoying that a new window. Don’t ask me why I really don’t know.

So I went in search of a script or something to use to make one of those nifty subscription box page pop ups. Come to find out Aweber provides this, already built in and highly customizable. *Happy dance* All I needed to do was set it up there and use one itty bitty snippit of code that worked flawlessly on my WordPress template (speaking of, have you SEEN the new redesigned Idea Queen? I’m still working off some static pages but I may be moving it all over to blog-only format eventually).

Now for the Numbers….

I’ve always been pretty darn good about putting my subscription boxes all over the place. Every single page in the MIDDLE or TOP of the content. Not tucked away on the side. The conversion rate of visitors to subscribers was about 1-2%. Absolutely pathetic really. 1-2 subscribers a day, 3 if I was lucky, and sometimes ZERO…. for 700-1000 new visitors every single day. Yuck.

As soon as I changed it so a box would pop up (and yes of course I left the old ones in place, I’d be stupid if I didn’t), I had instant subscribers. It was added sometime this afternoon (still early evening now), and I have 4 confirmed subscribers (5 more still unconfirmed, but won’t add those in the total just yet). Now it may seem small but if you figure there’s probably more to come (and I’m taking into account it’s Thursday – not exactly my best traffic day). Averaging just 8 a day is 250 per month, which is a HUGE leap from the 25 I was averaging.

I’ll be sure to post more results later, but I just wanted to share this awesome feature Aweber has (and probably has for quite some time, I’m just now noticing it HA!). Oh, and it’s under “Web Forms”.

While organizing a “real” cookie swap for some friends and family … I started thinking it’d be cool to do something like this online too.  From there it simply exploded!
 
To try and make a long story short, I need your favorite cookie recipe.  With these recipes I’m going to compile a WAHM Virtual Cookie Swap eCookbook.
 
Included in this ebook will be the name and website address of each submission.  (Think – Exposure!)  eCookbooks will be set up so anyone can give it out to whomever they want.  (Think – Viral Marketing!)
 
And … If you submit a recipe, I will create a personalized copy just for you!  There’s so many things you can do with these.  You’ll find a list of things on our details page.
 
Want more exposure?  Submit as many recipes as you’d like!  The more the better!
 
Grab all the details here:
http://www.mommyshelpercommunity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14530

This has been a very long time coming … but then again I’m finally getting to work on a lot of things that have been a long time coming!  Expect a lot of updates here soon as I slowly get my “wahm business life” back together!  (YAY!)

I just did a complete overhaul to our Direct Sales Company Directory.  Could you please take a peek and let me know what you think.  http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/direct-sales.html  Hate it?  Love it?  Could be better how?  (I’m a big girl – let me have it.) 
 
While overhauling I found quite a few people who were no longer with the company they had listed   Bad news for me … makes for an empty looking directory.  Good news for you … lots of openings available AND a special holiday offer to fill that baby up!  (And it sure is filling up quick!  http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/direct-sales.html

Let me start by saying I’ve been using WordPress for quite some time now. I do own multiple blogs, all of which use WordPress. But for the first time ever, I’ve created a “real” site using only WordPress.

My long ago forgotten recipe site, Recipes For Mom, has been completely redesigned. All the recipes that use to be on static pages are now being entered as blog posts with new URLs and all. It was a risky move to say the least, as I may lose my search engine rankings. Although the current income on that site is only about $50 per month, so it won’t be a huge lost should things not work out the way I had planned. I still think the rewards are going to outweigh the risks on this one though.

It hasn’t been easy changing everything. With my SEO addiction, this has been one serious uphill battle, and it isn’t over yet. I’m still tweeking, adding, testing, and pulling out hair just to get the everything “just so”. Since I like to hard code everything, this has been a bear getting use to. It may seem easy to just enter the content in a blog post, but I swear it takes me longer than it did to just make a new page.

I gave up searching for a plugin or hack that will allow me to change the category titles without changing the way it reads in the navigation, but I found a slight work around that pleases me for the time being (only good for a niche site such as this, but hey, it works). I also fought for half the day on getting a subcategory list on the category pages, only to figure out it was one simple snipit of code that I had overlooked in the beginning of my search. Can we say “grr”?

Overall, I’m liking the way it’s looking. I now have a nicer layout, easy to navigate site, and some other cool “toys” added on (such as a rating and review system – a must on a recipe site!).

Yes, I do believe I like this. *GRIN*

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