Welcome to the September Edition of the Carnival of Home Business! The theme of the month is Work Life Balance - and I have SO many good submissions that for the first time I had to figure out how to create a multi-page post in Wordpress!!

(Though some of my readers will likely point out I should have figured this out long ago - ‘Doh!!)

In all there are a whopping 21 posts in this edition, and I have broken them down into four subject categories:

Page 2 is all about Success Strategies and the Right Attitude

Page 3 gets you goin’ with Work Life Balance Tips and Productivity

Page 4 rides the roller coaster with Goals and Pitfalls

Page 5 is on Home Based Business and Kids - way more entertaining than changing poopy a diaper

And for my regular readers, this will replace my usual MVP (Most Valuable Post) of the week post, simply because these are darn valuable posts!!

Sad that you missed the chance to submit an article to this edition of the Carnival of Home Business? Then be sure to jump on the bandwagon the next time around as we feature the theme “Pricing Strategy and Getting Paid”, which will be hosted at SideBusiness.biz.
Onto the festivities!! …

I got my first mean comment today! I think this means I have hit the big time!!!

I’m actually excited!

And the reason I GOT the mean comment is even cooler - get this. Darren over at Problogger has people stealing his content all the time. And it was fascinating on my end when he posted a link to me to watch that link start appearing in other places - all over the internet.

Some people weren’t copying, of course. They also found the link valuable, and linked to the same article. To you - I say, “Thanks!!”

But there were others - some simply pulling his feed, some using some more surreptitious techniques. One guy had obviously copied and pasted the post - just had left out the incriminating evidence that the post was written by someone else.

The inbound link came into my WordPress Dashboard, and that little feeling of glee hit me - Yay! Another link to me! But when I read it, I didn’t know what the hell to do. I looked for the guys contact info on the site. Of course it wasn’t there. Do I get greedy and just be happy for another inbound link?

I sat on it for a few hours or so, then decided to take action. 

I posted a comment on his post, saying that although I am grateful that he found my post valuable and appreciated the link to my blog, that he was in fact stealing Darren’s content. And I then suggested that he might want to rethink his content production strategy.

So this morning, I received my first mean comment:

So, which business makes most money, from blogging, working from home, apart from “ghost blogging?” Or is this all a big hype, which is likely to collapse after all the biggies have sold out? Somehow, that’s what I feel.

Hhmmmm. Let’s see here. Am I ghost blogging? No, this is really me, with pen in hand scratching things off of my to do list:

And is it big hype? I hope so, because I feel way more significant when people are hyping me!

But have the biggies sold out? I think a better question would be: Who is the sell out, Coriander? The ProBlogger who writes valuable content, or the person who steals it?

[And no, I won’t be providing a link to his blog. It’s gone now anyway since I sent the link to Darren and I’m sure he sicked the legal dogs on him. Go, Darren, go!!]

Actually, Coriander, I want to thank you. Now, it’s not hate mail, but I knew that by growing my blog and putting myself out there that not everyone would like what I have to say. But if I can measure my success by the amount of people who disagree with my stand on ethics, I am willing to take the heat to do the right thing.

I was reading one of my new favorite blogs today, over at Passion Meets Purpose. Author Kammie is positive, full of energy, and totally infectious. She wrote a great post about a bit of an ego bruise that was a blessing in disguise - and it made me think of my own big ego bash from a while ago…

I remember when I first seriously considered becoming a life coach. It was almost 2 years ago - I was doing a lot of training with the Anthony Robbins companies, and really felt like I was finally getting this whole living a great life thing. I was working with some great potential clients at events, and really making a difference.

At the time I was working outside of the house, and my interest and passion for getting into coaching started becoming a distraction. I wanted a career that I could be passionate about - one that didn’t bore me after 2 months, as most of my jobs had in the past. I had encouragement from many people I knew, and even from people I had coached informally. I had the experience, I looked into coaching certification, and went to my coach and told him about my intentions.

Then I got some nasty medicine.

My coach didn’t think I was ready to be a coach for others. He suggested I needed a lot less talk and a lot more action in my life. That I wasn’t really walking my talk. Man, I was PISSED.

But I really, REALLY respected my coach. That pissed me off even more, because I couldn’t dismiss his observations as uninformed or ingenuine. I felt like he had given me the NASTIEST pill to swallow. But I trusted him. So I swallowed the pill - and my pride - and I took another look within.

I realized that even though coach training would be highly valuable, perhaps it wasn’t exactly what my heart was telling me to do at that time. I was actually more looking for a way OUT of my office job than I was looking to DO coaching, if that makes sense. And I hated, I mean REALLY HATED to admit it, but my coach was right. It was time for me to put up or shut up.

I decided that I would make no career moves until I pushed past my boredom and resistance in my current job. I realized that I was looking for something in my job to complete me - but I was looking at it all backwards. What I really needed to focus on was being complete - and then I knew I could trust that the right career opportunities would appear. I also made the decision to be successful in my current position, no. matter. what. How could I coach people to push past their own fears and resistance if I couldn’t do it myself?

By swallowing that little nasty pill my coach offered to me, I found that it wasn’t nasty at all. It just tasted nasty going down - but once down in my tummy it turned out to be one of the greatest gifts he had ever given me. And I know it was hard for him to offer it - but I’m so glad he did.

Had I listened to all the people who just said “Yeah, go for it, Wendy!” or “Wendy, your’e great!” I would not be where I am today. Not to say that I don’t surround myself with positive people. I most certainly do.

But the people that I spend the most time with, the ones who really define true friendship, are not my cheerleading squad. They hold me to a higher standard - by calling me on my sh*t, by living their own lives at high standards, and by never letting me buy into anything less than my own greatness. And by doing this, then, and only then, do we get to celebrate great successes together.

After that very painful experience, I took walking my talk to a whole new level. I rocked the house down in my office job. And I really dove into learning and applying NLP, coaching, and the science of persuasion. Just recently, my coach paid me the highest compliment he has ever given me.

In front of a room full of 50 people, he found himself in a position to help faciliate a reconciliation between two of our mutual friends. It had been a huge (and I mean HUGE !) challenge for all of us - because we were all so closely tied to each other. After tears were shed and hugs shared, my coach said that this was a great example of the fact that we as leaders have our own problems from time to time - and that this reconciliation would not have happened if it weren’t for MY coaching of all of the people involved. Wow. Talk about a tear jerker.

Had my coach not sacked my ego two years ago, this would never have happened. And it’s very likely I wouldn’t be here behind eMoms at Home today. So did my peer group influence my business? You had better believe it!

So the question is - who is in your peer group? Are these people that buy into your “story”, or do they hold you to a higher standard? Hopefully you have at least one person in your life that sees you at your best - even when you don’t - and reminds you of who you are when you forget.  And if you don’t, just keep reading my blog until you do - or until I get to meet you in person - whichever comes first!

As most of you know, my little eMoms at Home Blog wasn’t my original plan - I was going to make my fortune in affiliate marketing on a self help site. Then as I blogged about it over here, my whole plan got hijacked because you liked my work. Darn readers .

So I had my income plan all in place and then this happened. Now I’ll be honest, I’m kind of scrambling to rework my entire business plan to come up with a different revenue model, because when I went into this, I didn’t know the first thing about making money off of a blog. Go figure.

I’m wishing now that I could buy stock in ProBlogger.net and get a few cents back for every minute I spend on his site - I’d be surely raking in the dough by now if that were the case!

So I’m taking a lot of my own advice on business start-ups. Think Creatively. Add Value. Stay Focused. Stay Positive. Be Smart. Make Strategic Decisions. Work Hard! Follow my Heart! And probably most importantly: Get outside of my comfort zone and do whatever it takes to succeed.

To that end, I have studied the patterns of your clicks, dear readers, and I know what makes you tick. I know what you are looking for. You want to know how you can get more done in your home based business. You want guidance on being a success. And you want to know more about taking your business to the next level.

As much as I would love to simply blog for you for free, I am running a business here. And how can I show you how to make money from home unless I am making money from home?! 

So. I will lead by example. And here’s my good news!!

I am putting together the eMoms ProductivityJolt Program - Achieving Consistent Productivity from the Inside Out - which will feature the following:

1. 8 weeks of small group coaching sessions - no more than 4 people on each conference call, each week. Each participant will get personal attention and a personalized program based on each individuals’ business and personal needs
2. An analysis of your current business and personal strengths and weaknesses, which will tailor your individualized program
3. A copy of my in-progress eBook:: ProductivityJolt! Achieving Consistent Productivity from the Inside Out
4. Email support throughout the 8 week program
5. A personal money-back guarantee you will accomplish more in this 8 week program than you did in the last 6 months combined!

I’m still working on timing and pricing. But I can tell you now this is a VERY hands-on program that I will be investing a lot of time and love into. You will get personal attention and I will be handing out weekly assignments based not on what I want to teach, but on what YOU need to get out of this program.

I can also say right now that I am only willing to open up this program to 20 people, because I can’t take on more than that right now and still guarantee the quality of the program.

WELL. I just made a big commitment and I have my work cut out for myself between now and the program launch! Please - everyone - whether or not you are interested in this program - feedback! I can’t wait to hear from you on this one!

Most of you know by now that this little blog here was never intended to be anything more than a hobby site, ironically enough. I just really had a passion for starting up businesses, the online space, and really know the ups and downs of being a work at home mom. But now, just over three months later, this site/blog is consistently spending (on the daily meter) time in the Alexa top 100,000, and I am looking back on how the heck this all happened in such a short amount of time.

From my professional background in online business development, plus with my passion for psychology and helping people, I will have to admit I have a knack for getting into the heads of people. So I have been carefully studying what I have done to date to determine what I am doing right - not only so that I can duplicate it in the future, but so you can duplicate it yourself.

Some of my ’secrets’ aren’t very sexy, and certainly some aren’t even fun. Some sound totally fluffy and inconsequential. A long time ago, I would have even dismissed some of these items. But I do believe each one are key ingredients to my success thus far, so here they are:

1. Search your soul before you start.
   I mean dig deep, too. As in, the big questions of life. What are you on this planet for? What is your ultimate purpose in life? If your family was reading your eulogy after you had passed on, what do you want them to say about you? I have spent years getting very clear on who I am, what my values are, and defining my professional, personal and spiritual paths. I made the decision long ago that anything I say is worth saying from the heart. Everyone I talk to in person, whether they be friends, family, or clients know this to be true about me. My authenticity comes through as I write, and people pick up on that. My ultimate purpose on this planet is to help people get in touch with their own hearts. This is what led me to start eSelfHelp and eMoms at Home. Your ultimate purpose is probably different. You need to know what it is, and let that purpose be the compass for your content development.~
2. Let the real you shine through.
   I talked with several individuals who I highly respect, and their feedback was overwhelming. eMoms at Home is my voice, my experience, and especially with photos, people can connect with me. I wouldn’t put pictures up of my children online unless I was the real deal, with nothing to hide. I have shared my successes and my challenges - the transparency of the real me on the blog allows the readers to relate to me. Not everyone will, but of course, not everyone is reading my blog. Simply put, those that don’t read this blog are finding other bloggers that they can relate to. But in the end, people are drawn to people who have common interests and values. The more you can share about who you really are, the more people can find something to relate to.~
3. Study the success stories.
   Some of my favorites include StevePavlina.com, ProBlogger.net, CopyBlogger, BlogHer, Guy Kawasaki’s Blog and one of my new favorites, Duct Tape Marketing. To be even more honest, I haven’t even been around long enough to know about many of the other big bloggers. I’m certainly not advocating any form of copying, which is why this tip comes after the first two. These blogs are doing lots of things right, and I am always looking to learn from people more successful than I am. I analyze what I like about their work and figure out how I can apply the knowledge in my own way.~
4. Add value in every post - well, almost every post.
   You wouldn’t care a bit about me if I didn’t offer you something to come and read this blog - even if I was the most charismatic person on the planet (and as much as I like to think I am, I know I’m not ). I’m here to impart knowledge, to make sure that when you come, you come to get something of value. And my goal when you leave is to tempt you back with the promise of more things of value. I’ll admit to a bit of self-indulgence every now and then, but my goal in nearly every post is to give you more than I expect to receive from you.~
5. Network like crazy.
   Although my traffic is growing in leaps and bounds, I have gotten my biggest boost from associating with other bloggers online. I’ve learned a lot from them, offered them my expertise when appropriate, and by doing so, I’ve started to rapidly grow inbound links and exposure to the blogging community. This is true of any offline business, so it makes perfect sense that it would be critical to online blogging success as well.~
6. Be passionate about your chosen topic.
   If you are bored, your readers will be too. Same goes for blogging about a topic that you think will bring in the traffic and the money – but in the end, isn’t really what you are passionate about. I LOVE starting businesses. I LOVE online marketing. I LOVE coaching people. I could write about this stuff for free and be happy – which is the key right there. If you are happy with your work, I mean really happy with what you are doing, the fun and passion will be so obvious to your readers they will catch the great feelings from you. Everyone wants to feel good and be happy – the more enthusiasm that comes through in your blog, the more your readers will catch it and come back for more.~
7. Trust your intuition and your instincts. Be true to them.
   I’m certainly not the biggest blogging success story around, not by a long-shot. But something within me said, “Write This Article”. I kind of backed away from it for a few days (weeks, even!), thinking, who the heck am I to be writing about this? I am no BoingBoing or Engadget. But I do know businesses, I know sales and I know people. I know what motivates us to take action, and what keeps us in inaction. I know in my heart the eMoms at Home blog is the start of something bigger than I had dreamed it would become. So I took the leap of faith and listened to my intuition and wrote the article. I may get flamed, I may get laughed at, and I may make a difference for many, many people who really want to be professional bloggers. If I help one person do that, then this article is a success to me. [Added 8.18.06 :: mission accomplished!!]~
8. Do your homework about blog set up, SEO, and site design:: Techy Stuff.
   This is basic online marketing and eBusiness stuff. If you want your blog to go anywhere someday, use a strong blogging platform such as WordPress, TypePad or Movable Type . Be sure to incorporate good keywords into your posts and post titles (but not at the expense of good copywriting), and get the blog listed in as many directories as possible. Use Technorati tags. Set up your feed accurately with someone like FeedBurner. And make sure your blog has a clean design and is aesthetically appealing. All of these things are like going to a professional networking event in a business suit with your business cards, rather than your grubby painting jeans and no contact info on hand.~
9. Be disciplined.
   I post a bare minimum of 4 times a week. And now that my blog is getting consistent traffic and subscribers, I am posting more often. There are definitely days when I don’t feel like writing and when I don’t have a lot to say. But I have made it a MUST to continue to write and make the content good. On my dry days, I turn to a list I have made of blogging topic ideas as my backup content. As one blessed with ADD, I really don’t “enjoy” being disciplined. But with ANY business comes frustration and boredom at times, blogging included. It’s up to you to get over these things and continue to deliver valuable content to your readers who are depending on you, period.~
10. Blog with a higher purpose in mind.
    The big bloggers are blazing a trail for the rest of us – and thus, are making a huge impact on the internet as we know it. Even blogs with commercial content are adding value to society, by putting information out there in a format that invites a conversation vs. pure marketing hype. They are spreading information on how to start your own blog and make money at it, they are giving great advice on personal and business challenges. All of these things inspire and help us to become more informed, grow our expertise, and enable us to connect with others all over the world that we would never otherwise know. I really want to help moms who want to work at home, but even more so, I want to inspire people to pursue their dreams and follow their hearts, no matter if they do it in a home office or not. Can I do this via blogging? Absolutely. And other ways too of course, but blogging has laid such a strong foundation for future success; it has been a critical component to pursuing my own dreams. There are others out there who need this platform for the pursuit of their own dreams, and I am happy to be a stepping stone on the way.

Are there other “Success Secrets”? Of course. Even things that aren’t so secret. Visit some of those favorite blogs of mine mentioned in #3 to learn even more from the pros. Study up. But don’t spend too much time researching - it’s more important to find your own voice than to spend all day listening to someone else’s.

Then go dig deep and get writing!

Related Posts:

Preparing for a BlogJolt - Turn your One Night Stand Blog Traffic into a Marriage Proposal

Top Ten Key Success Ingredients for Home Based Businesses

Achieving Consistent Productivity from the Inside Out

New eMoms BlogJolt Yahoo! Group

When I was running my design business from home several years ago, I was a much different person (read: depressed, angry, blaming and constantly unable to get myself to take action on things). My husband was also a very different person (read: I’m not about to bash him now after all of the amazing growth he has achieved in the last 3 years!).

Sure, we still have our disagreements and annoyances. I don’t normally write about this stuff, but upon reading Of Fish and Family today, I reflected on the side of my life that gets little attention in my writings, my hubby. I swear Margo must be married to my husband’s twin. (How DO they go to the store and come home with so much crap, Margo?! I just don’t get it!!)

But back to my story. When my husband and I were living our lives at our not-so-best selves, we had a one fight that ALWAYS turned into big blowouts. Money.

Now I know we are the ONLY couple on the planet with these issues, so just bear with me (ha!).

The fight never started the same, but once one of us ‘went there’, it always ended the same. With us not talking for days, sometimes.

He HATED the fact that I was home all of the time, and didn’t have a “real job”. But the way he dug it in deeper was to consistently point out that the house was messy pretty much all of the time, and why the heck couldn’t I actually get up off my butt and take care of this stuff?

I HATED the fact that he was (and still is!) one of the most talented sales people I have ever met, yet when my company was hitting hard times, he wasn’t stepping up and consistently making the numbers he needed to cover our expenses. And how dare he think I was slacking off? I was working 16 hour days trying to recover my business!! Would he say this to me if I was working outside of the house 16 hours a day?

The truth of the matter was, we were both right, and both wrong.

My 16 hour days were a lot of surfing and chat-room hopping. And I didn’t believe in myself in any way shape or form, so I was sabotaging all of my business efforts so that my income dipped well below $10K a year. And yeah, the house really was a mess.

The stress of mounting debt, a depressed wife, a ’surprise’ third baby, and constant fighting were taking their toll on my husband’s own self esteem. His motivation started spiraling out of control, and he started finding ways to make himself feel important again:: at great costs.

[Holy shit I am crying while I am writing this!! I haven’t thought about this stuff for so long, and never from the healthy perspective I am able to use today! What a sad time in our lives!!]

The solution is more of a book than a blog post. But here are some key distinctions from my work at home journey:

1. Don’t try to start or run a home based business if you have a lot of personal challenges that need to be addressed. Really  - I’m saying this (as in, hand over my heart saying this)… TAKE CARE OF YOU FIRST. You can’t take care of your family, your marriage, or let alone a business, if you are in your own way. Take a few months to get your head on straight. See a coach or a counselor. Trust me, it’s the BEST investment you can make in your business.
2. Own it when you mess up. I was blaming the economy, my husband, and even my own emotions for ‘causing me to get off track’. Doesn’t work that way. It’s a tough pill to swallow at times, but our life is a choice. If it’s a mess, our choices have led us there. No need to be mad at yourself or feel even more guilty about it. It’s just time to start making better choices.
3. Your marriage problems are not about what you aren’t getting. It’s about what you aren’t giving. That goes for him (or her!) too, just in case you were wondering. I know you do things all of the time that show your spouse that you love them - in YOUR way. But have you ever asked THEM what has to happen in order for THEM to feel loved? I can wager that you haven’t (most people haven’t). And if (and hopefully when) you do, I think you will be surprised at the answers you will get.

Lastly, the way that I ensure I never, ever go back to the person I was in 2003 is by doing the following:

1. I take time to meditate connect with myself daily. My happiness is one of my highest priorities.
2. I put fun things on my list to do - and if I don’t do them, my leverage is induced just like it is when the not-so-fun things aren’t done.
3. I make sure my husband and I get alone time every week. Mandatory.
4. I know what has to happen in order for my husband to feel loved, because I have asked him. I make it a priority to do those things. A lot.
5. I listen to my ‘inner wisdom’ and follow it no matter what - even when it is super scary and I don’t know what the hell I am doing. It always leads me in the right direction.
6. Whenever my husband and I are not getting along, I ask myself “What can I GIVE to this situation RIGHT NOW that will make our relationship stronger?”. With such a powerful question, I inevitably get powerful answers!

Well, maybe “hate” is too strong of a word.

But here are the things I L-O-V-E about working from home, and the things that kind of suck.

I Love:

1. Being able to follow my dreams in my own business
2. Having so much extra time with my kids when they are little
3. Finding so many ways to add value to people’s lives through my business
4. Setting aside time every week to take the kids to the farmer’s market, the library, the pool in the summertime and sledding in the wintertime
5. Being able to go boating frequently because I don’t need my weekends to get caught up on “life stuff”
6. The ability to meet my husband for lunch whenever I darn well feel like it
7. Getting the chance to get to know so many other work at home professionals who I learn from every day
8. Actually having a schedule that allows for sick kids, soccer games, and a quick trip to Target just for fun (I would marry Target if it were a man!)
9. Having time to volunteer for CIMA events and projects
10. Being able to transform two prior business letdowns into a really wonderful gift for others

I really don’t love:

1. Tracking business expenses. Boring!
2. Business taxes. Just the thought makes me feel guilty, even though I haven’t done anything wrong!
3. Not socializing and networking in person with other adults on a regular basis
4. Cash flow - and lack of it at times
5. Dealing with technical issues. I want to write and promote, dammit!
6. Having to tell my kids I’m too busy to play with them right now
7. Having to work on a big project in a house that is messy at times. I can’t focus!
8. Kids fighting in the background when I am on the phone with an important person
9. Not getting into downtown Chicago very much anymore (I love downtown!)
10. Getting sucked into reading too many blogs when I need to be working!

But it’s ALL worth it because:

1. My kids hands down prefer that I am here with them rather than being in school/daycare (and they really like school and daycare!!)
2. I am making a difference in people’s lives with the content I am writing and the coaching/mentoring I am doing
3. I am finally doing the job/career I was put on this earth to do
4. My husband and I have a great relationship that I have more time to enjoy
5. I get to hug, tickle, laugh with and hug my kids whenever I want (did I mention hug?)
6. I have the time to take on projects that contribute to the communities I participate in
7. I have more balance in my life than I have ever experienced before
8. Every career move I have made, every mistake I have made, and every problem I have had in the past are now all of my most valuable assets and I cherish them
9. My life is in line with my highest purpose, which took a l-o-n-g time to build up the courage to do
10. I am in a position to help others do exactly the same thing!

It’s been a great week to be an eMom! Thanks to the rewarding and wonderful BlogJolt project, eMoms at Home is the proud recipient of the prestigious SOB award.

Yep, I’m an SOB Thanks Liz!!

I’ve been getting quite a few questions lately in regards to my BlogJolt project - and one of them is, “Well, what are the long-term benefits of this kind of time commitment? Why should I work hard to jolt the traffic of other blogs - is it worth it?”

I can boil this down to the question that I aim to answer every time I communicate with anyone, anytime, anywhere::

“What’s in it for me?!”

Let me first speak to some of the benefits of participating in a link-building project, then I’ll talk about what to do when the day comes that you receive a huge amount of traffic in a very short timeframe.

Again - the quick premise of the BlogJolt is for the group to flood a weekly target blog with links, traffic, and social bookmarks. Why is it a good idea to help other bloggers?

1. The obvious - participation is mandatory if you want to be considered as a future target blog - but you only have to participate once every three weeks to keep your name in the hat.
2. You start becoming a better resource to your readers. The more they look to you as an expert in your field - the more they need you to point them to other valuable resources besides your blog
3. Participating in weekly BlogJolts forces you to “get out of the ‘virtual’ house” so to speak, and read blogs you might not have found otherwise.
4. You never know what kind of connections you will make as you write about a new blog. You never know who is reading, who is watching you. I don’t mean in a big-brother kind of way - I mean, one connection can really change the course of your career. Don’t believe me? Read my post about how I got here.
5. This BlogJolt is getting some good publicity - and I believe it will get more. The BlogJolt group is nothing without its members - and I’m promoting the members as much as I am promoting the project. Good PR is a good thing.

Now, what can you do to prepare for being a BlogJolt Target Blog? It can be broken down into two categories - things you need to do on a consistent basis before you get a flood of traffic, and things you need to do specifically in regards to getting that flood of traffic.

Before I go further, I must give great credit to Jason Unger who wrote a great post about this topic - which inspired me to take it further in this post. He talks about what to do before, during, and after a huge flood of traffic hits your blog. (And thanks to Brian Clark at CopyBlogger for the great find!)

To add to Jason’s wisdom from a business perspective:

1. Take the publicity and run with it. Use it as an excuse to open more doors with other bloggers whom you admire. Or even with the press for particularly newsworthy stuff
2. Analyze what you did right and do more of it.
3. Write about what you figure out from #2, and use that knowledge to write posts to help other bloggers duplicate your success.
4. Keep the conversation going. Respond to comments a lot. Get out and comment a lot more, especially on blogs related to yours, or to your post that got linked from a large traffic source. People will start seeing your name more often and start wondering - who is this person who seems to be everywhere? I MUST know them!

To add to Jason’s wisdom from a personal perspective:

1. Own your success. You just got a lot of traffic. A LOT. Guess what? That doesn’t happen to everyone. It happens to good bloggers. It happens to good writers who add value to the blogosphere, or to the internet as a whole. That’s now who you are. Make it a part of your identity. As you let this ‘go to your head’ a little bit, you will start thinking of yourself differently, coming up with different ideas, and accessing different resources within yourself, which when done properly and ethically, will take you from good to great.
2. Take this as an opportunity to rethink your blog. Perhaps you got a lot of attention for a niche topic or post - could this be telling you something about the interests of your readers? Are you writing about all of the things you really care about on your blog? Or can you take this opportunity and use it to expand the content you offer to your readers?
3. What did you learn about yourself when you suddenly got a lot of attention? Did you tell yourself “Finally! I’m getting the traffic I deserve!” or did you say “Why the heck are they writing about me?” or were you suddenly uncomfortable with all of the scrutiny and attention? Just notice what your reactions are - when you get a chance to be in the spotlight, all sorts of things can creep up in our minds - voices from the past saying ‘you don’t deserve this’, ‘who are you to be writing about this stuff’, or ‘I wonder if I can really maintain this success - there isn’t enough material in me to keep this going!’.

   Whatever your reactions are, this is an opportunity for you.

   Limiting beliefs can kill a blog, let alone a career, and ESPECIALLY an entrepreneur’s dreams. Most of the time, we don’t even know they are there until it’s too late, already wreaking havoc by creating crappy circumstances or experiences, or sabotaging our success. You have an opportunity to actually have these limiting beliefs become clear NOW, hopefully before the damage is done long term. Identify the limiting beliefs that come to mind that could have potential long term consequences, and be vigilant about getting rid of them.

When I received a “BlogBoost” from the LinkedIn Bloggers, everything changed, and is still changing - so fast I can hardly keep up with it all. I started writing more about topics I hadn’t touched on this blog, and started taking this blog seriously, whereas before hand, it was practically an indulgence.

But I siezed upon the opportunity to build upon my success, reach out to my readers, and I started developing a lot more content that was a lot more valuable. The day I recieved a lot of inbound links could have been a one-night-stand. People could have come and gone. But I did a lot of the things Jason suggests in his post, as well as the things I have suggested. Since the day I was boosted, my traffic and subscribers has consistently increased because of these steps. In fact, my highest day of traffic before my “boost” is now a slow day… a REALLY slow day.

So perhaps it’s not a marriage proposal for my readers just yet, but I can definitely say,  “We’re more than friends”. Wink. Wink.

Wow. THANK God for my Mastermind Group. Let me give you the quick history before I launch into my accomplishment for the week.

In my Mastermind Group, we meet weekly to discuss our goals and progress, keep each other on track and offer coaching when appropriate. We come in with weekly commitments, and if they aren’t accomplished by the next week, severe leverage is induced. I pick my own leverage - something so painful that I will HAVE to ensure my list is complete!! My leverage is that I would have to grow out my usually well-hidden moustache. For 2 weeks. Trust me, my work gets DONE.

So last week I said I would request 10 inbound links. Then I put it off. I avoided it until the AFTERNOON of my evening meeting. And then I knew I HAD to do it. I’m a social butterfly in person. I even just blindly invited 50 women bloggers to the BlogJolt group. Yet to contact people to request a link was different. I was asking rather than offering. And I was scared.

But I was even more scared to get hairy. I knew I had to put up or shut up. Plus, I had to ask myself: How can I offer leadership to my readers and blog about this stuff if I am too scared to do it myself? So I bit the bullet and started writing.

I was surprised, but in retrospect, I’m not. Avoiding it was the hardest part. When I had no choice but to sit down and write the damn emails, I found I could do it.

I even found a way to ask without sounding like a greedy pig.

And I even found a way to offer some value back.

And I even opened some doors to some really exciting partnerships in the process!!

As business owners, going outside of our comfort zone is an absolute requirement to success. Even as bloggers. Even as moms, for that matter. If we are always inside of our comfort zone, we are not growing.

Ironically, my friend Brett sent me a great quote this morning that really perfectly explains why this is so important for us as humans::

“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.