How can you get the word out about your latest release without spending more than you earn? Many authors are forming groups for advertising and getting more ad space for their buck. A group of electronically published authors contributed $10.00 each for a full page ad in Romance Writers of America’s monthly magazine. Many of these authors would not be able to afford such a large ad on their own.

* Take time to breathe, support one another, and have fun.

Take advantage of online chats for guest appearances (plug your book while there). Post to message boards and offer to do interviews with online sites.

Sick of the drudgery?

Are you sick of working 9 to 5 (or longer) day in and day out? Do you wish you could take your vacation when you wanted, never miss another activity your kids are involved in and not have to sit in an office day after day?

You can work from home and make a decent living. You can make the transition without risking your current income.

Nearly fifteen years ago, I worked for Ford Motor Company. The money was good. I hated the job. Day in and day out, I would leave my child with a babysitter when I really wanted to be a stay at home mom. Fortunately, my babysitter was my mother, but it was still hard to leave my child every day. I knew precious years were slipping past that I could never regain. I was missing all my child’s firsts! There were days when I would drop my daughter off, drive to work and sit in the parking lot for ten minutes crying and trying to get my emotions under control. I knew something had to change. I loved to write and had a degree in English, so I started looking at how to take my love of writing and turn it into a career.

Is There Something You Love To Do?

If there is something you truly enjoy, then there is no reason for you to stay in a job you either hate or that keeps you away from your family. After years of trial and error, running numerous businesses and helping others with theirs, I can finally say that I have the financial freedom to stay home and do what I love. I’ve been working from home for the last 15 years. I have taken all my mistakes and put them into a single book that will help you avoid some of the mistakes I made and find success much more quickly.

Don’t Settle for Small Change When You Can Have Big Bucks

For many years, I settled for peanuts when I could have had a meal. I worked for paltry sums, not because I didn’t think I deserved better, but because I was so thankful to be able to work from home and be with my family. Then, I met some people who were doing the same thing I was doing and making six figures. Our conversations were real eye openers. I began to study the concept of a six figure income and am currently on track to make six figures over the next 12 months by making some simple changes. I share how I’m doing this and how you can do it too. You’ll make more money without working any harder.

Learn How to Make Your Work Profitable Even When You Aren’t Working

If you’ve never heard of residual income, you’ll learn all about it in this e-book course. Imagine going on vacation in Hawaii. While you’re watching the sun set over the ocean and the palm trees swaying in the breeze, your residual income sources are working for you and bringing in money to keep you in the lifestyle you want to become accustomed to.

Let’s Do It!

More time with your family!

There is a book titled Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Buts by Peter McWilliams. This book speaks volumes about making the decision to move forward in our lives and just doing it. What are you waiting for? You shouldn’t spend another day in a job you dread. Your children shouldn’t spend another day at a day care center or with a babysitter. If your heart is really at home, then YOU should be raising your children. Not someone else.

I GUARANTEE You’ll Learn What You Need

I’m so sure about this e-book course and so positive that you’ll learn what you need to know to escape the dreaded rat race, that I offer a money back guarantee that after reading this book you’ll have the tools you need to start working from home.

If you want more time with your family and more freedom in your work life, then this course can help. The course is based on real-time courses taught recently. I’ve taken all the questions participants had and answered them in this e-book. You’ll get all the tools you need to learn how to work from home.

Two Options

The e-book course comes with two options.

Option # 1

Just want the tips and information to get started? Then you can purchase just the e-book course for less than you’d spend on Starbucks in a month, or the cost of an evening out. Just $59.95 for this e-book, which will get you started on the path to a new life filled with more freedom and more time for yourself.

Option # 2

Feel like you need a little more guidance? You can also invest in a one-on-one consultation with me. We’ll discuss your plan for your business, how to improve any areas of concern and even take a look at an exit strategy for your job. You can also ask any other questions you might have.

Work from home today!

BONUS OFFER

For a very limited time, when you order this e-book, you’ll also get a copy of my e-book Making a Living from Your Writing and a copy of Your Options for Selling Goods Online.

These bonuses are available for only a limited time!

Don’t spend another day in a job you hate, living the life you never wanted to live.

Add Personal Consultation

No Consultation $59.95 One-on-one E-mail Consultation $89.95

Thinking about these peanuts got me to thinking about how we spend our time as freelancers. Are you working too hard for too little? Is your freelance career filled with projects that are airline peanuts?

As a freelance worker, you only have so many hours in the day. How much you make on a project directly determines how much you make each year. I tell students in my classes all the time that you must figure out your livable wage and work for that. While it is okay to take some projects on early in your career that don’t pay a lot to gain the experience, the goal should be to make more per hour as your experience grows.

I’m going to offer two examples of two different writers I know. I’m changing their names to protect their identity and to protect me from their wrath. Let’s call them John and Jane.

Jane is a stay at home mom, who works as a part-time freelance writer. Jane’s husband has a good job and she only needs a little extra to make their lives more comfortable, so she chooses to work about 15 hours a week. She writes articles for an online article mill for about $15 an article. It takes her an hour to write an article, she makes $15 an hour. Her kids are happy, her husband is happy and she is exhausted.

John is also a stay at home parent. He works a few more hours than Jane, because his wife watches the kids while he writes in the evenings. However, for the sake of comparing them equally, let’s say he puts in 15 hours a week instead of 30. John is protective of how he uses those 15 hours. He is very organized. He has a specific day he sends out queries for new assignments/clients. He has a set time to complete projects. He has a set time to study and research. He has a set time to track down any unpaid invoices and get his money. John writes articles that pay no less than .40 a word or he takes on technical writing and other projects that pay at least $50 an hour. He makes $50 an hour, minus about 5 hours for marketing and billing. He spends another three hours on research. Effectively, he gets paid for about 7 of his 15 hours a week.

Jane makes $225/week

John makes $350/week

Who do you think is using their time more productively?

So, my question to you is this… Are you working for peanuts, or are you working for a meal? It’s really your decision.

Part of me loves to shop. There is nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect bargain on that perfect blouse that will go with anything. Part of me hates to shop, especially at peak times, like weekends and holidays.

I have two big shopping events coming up in the next six months. Event # 1 is back to school shopping for children’s clothes (teens). The other event is Christmas shopping, which may seem like it is a long ways away, but actually isn’t all that far. Since working from home means that saving money often becomes vital, I am trying a few experiments. This is actually a challenge I’ve issued on my Crabby Housewife blog, but it applies here too.

Since I love to save money and I love to shop and I love the Internet, I have decided to conduct a Crabby Housewife Experiment this year and see how much I can save by combining my three loves. After doing a bit of research, I will use some reward sites, combined with sales and sites that offer free shipping in an attempt to meet all my holiday gift giving needs as well as much of our back to school shopping.

If you would like to join me in this journey, you can sign up for some or all of these same sites. I will get a referral credit, if you do, which will help me out as I pay the hosting fees on this site. Here are the various sites I plan to utilize:

• Ebates
• Swagbucks
• MyPoints

Ebates will allow me to earn cash back for any purchases I make online. Since money is my favorite savings, Ebates is going to be my “go to” site where I always start my shopping. However, there are a few sites that do not offer E-rebates through this site, but whom I really want to order things from for a variety of reasons. Because of this, I will use Swagbucks and MyPoints as my two backup systems. Although the earnings aren’t as great as what I can earn through Ebates, I do still get points.

Since joining Swagbucks just a short time ago, I have already redeemed enough points to earn $25 in Amazon gift cards. I am actually banking these for Christmas present purchases. I’d love to bank a couple hundred dollars by December. When I do go to Amazon to use those gift cards, I will go through Ebates or MyPoints to earn even more.

Come with me on this journey to save money through these online sites and make this Christmas SEEM like I spent a fortune, when I really didn’t. And y’all know how much I love to save money.

P.S. If you sign up under one of the above sites using my referrer link, drop me an e-mail and let me know. I’ll thank you by sending you a free e-book called WHAT’S FOR DINNER? 14 Day Menu Rotation Plan. I promise that this plan will save you money and time. You’ll never have to worry about what to cook for dinner again. It is the system I often use for my own family and it works like a charm.

P.P.S. If you aren’t already subscribed to the Crabby Housewife blog, hop over to crabbyhousewife.com and sign up. I will be posting updates about all the wonderful deals I find in the next six months. You can shop the same deals, or just get ideas on how to save tons of money.

Can you make money working online?

You may be wondering if it is at all possible to make any money online. Online income can be an important revenue stream for home workers. The problem is trying to find LEGITIMATE work at home opportunities amidst the numerous scams.

WEEDING OUT THE SCAMS

There are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind that may help you avoid scams.

• Never pay money to try to get a job. This is always a scam that is meant only to take your money.
• Never agree to work without pay or only the promise of POSSIBLE pay in the future. You deserve to be paid for your time in a reasonable period of time.
• If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Most scams will shoot unrealistic figures at you, like “Make $1000 a day while you sleep”. Does that even sound possible? Very unlikely.
• If you are offered an online position, search Google for reviews of the company. Search for “Company Name Reviews” and then search for “Company Name Complaints”. I also recommend searching the BBB site for complaints.

WHERE TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES

There are many different places where you can search for work online. A lot will depend upon the type of work you do, of course. A good place to start always is Google. Want to be an online tutor? Do a search for “online tutoring” and see what turns up.

Visit boards filled with work at home people, such as WAHM and Working Mother. By chatting with other moms or home-based workers, you will make connections that will eventually lead you to online job opportunities you may not have otherwise discovered.

There are other sites out there like this, but I’ve found these to be the best. You can also check out UPromise.com and Ebates.com for more ideas on getting free stuff and saving money. In fact, I always check Ebates.com before I purchase anything and see if there are any cash back offers available.

I will post more ideas soon!

Escape the Rat Race and Work From Home 6 week course. Details here.

Writing Romances Workshop – Don’t have a lot of extra time? This one day workshop is on a Saturday June 5th from 9 p.m. to midnight with a couple of short breaks in the middle. Saturday, June 5th. This course will cover the elements of a romance, opening hooks, conflict, plot, where to market your work and a Q & A session. Only $9.99 for this workshop. You do not have to attend the actual workshop if the time is not good for you. You will be e-mailed a lot and you can ask any follow-up questions you might have via e-mail. Register now.

Business Writing Workshop – Learn how to start gaining clients and the different types of business writing. This field can be very lucrative! The workshop runs from 9 p.m. until Midnight on Saturday, May 22nd. Only $12.99 for this workshop. You do not have to attend the actual workshop, if this time is not good for you. A log will be e-mailed and you can ask any questions you might have via e-mail as well. Register now.

We will be listing new courses over the summer, including our Blogosphere course and several free workshops on how to run your own business. Stay tuned for details!

One topic that we discussed this week was streams of income. Any business owner alive will tell you that relying on a single client or a single source of income is not smart business. If you lose that one source, you are sunk. That is why mutliple streams is so important.

In my class, I gave the example of an ocean that is your salary. This ocean is called Reformed Rat Ocean for this example. the ocean is partially supplied by rivers. Rivers are big gushes of water. Some rivers are wider than others (bigger) and some are thinner. Rivers are a pretty good size of your income, though. They make up maybe 50 to 80 percent of your income combined. You should have two or three rivers.

If you lose a river, it will hurt. However, since they are from different sources, you are unlikely to lose them all at once.
Your streams and creeks are your small jobs. These are either occasional or trickle in. These add to your ocean’s depth, but they are much less likely to make you or break you. A healthy business has both rivers and streams and several of each. The goal is a balance. If you have all your income from a single source and that source folds, then you are sunk. This is true for any business, not just writing.

We went into many examples and talked about individual business plans in the class, of course. If you are currently running your own business or just thinking about it, streams of income is an important topic for you.