I am squealing with excitement. I just got my review copy of Susan Solovic’s The Girl’s Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business
Don’t expect to hear from me for a few days. 
It’s easy to create a to do list - figure out what needs to get done and put it on your list. And it’s really, really easy to get bogged down in the details of doing, too.
Today, I’m feeling quite bogged down by the “doing”. Answer emails. Grab conference calls. Build media kit. Blah. Blah. Blah. I feel like I’m getting too wrapped up in the day to day grind, and not taking a step back and looking at the big picture - I want to focus more on my outcome!
So what is my outcome?
I want every person on this planet who wants to start a business, grow their business, or create a better balanced business to know about eMoms at Home. Yep. I don’t think small.
But I’m faced with 407 emails (and I semi-cleaned out my flipping inbox on Friday!!), and I know that’s going to take me most of the day to get through. So how do I work on the big picture without neglecting the day to day details that must be attended to?!
*2 hour pause while I tackle this issue before I hit publish*
Heh. I took steps to solve my own problem before I even finished this post. I just talked to a new Virtual Assistant and we’re going to explore working together. She also does web PR and is even open to both payment and barter arrangements. 
In the meantime, my inbox has jumped to 416 emails. 
I had better finish this post!
So, back to our Monday Motivation :: what is it, anyway?
Step 1 - let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).
Step 2 - put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.
Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done - a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done!
Step 4 - Be sure to think about this long-term as well as what you’re going to accomplish today. How will what you do today help you get to where you want to go?
Today before I go to sleep, I will
- Clean out my inbox of 417 emails (it just keeps getting worse!)
- Follow up with my potential VA if she sends me the email I requested today
- Organize my to-do list for the week
- Put together a plan in which I can get 8 hours of uninterrupted planning time to work out a proposal I need to put together
- Take a shower!!!
If I don’t get all of this done by the time I go to bed tonight, I will wash and clean out my husband’s car before next Monday. (Eek!)
So who are you going to BE today and what are you going to accomplish to support yourself in your long-term goals?
Earlier this week we talked about how being an entrepreneur can help alleviate depression. Many of you had quite a bit to say about how great it was to leave the 9 to 5 grind and pursue your dreams.
So, since many of you are already working at home either as entrepreneurs, in telecommuting positions, or just have some flexibility in your jobs, I’m hoping you will share what your favorite part of working at home is?
Let’s give those 9 to 5′ers some more reasons to pursue their dreams!
What’s my favorite part?
Being able to do the work I was put on this earth to do. Make a difference in people’s lives - both yours and my family’s as I get more time with them.
So what do you think is the best part about working at home?
Thanks to Richard, Shiraz, 45n5, Windyridge, Laura, Aruni, Dennis, David, & Busy Mom for chatting it up last week about our favorite money makers!
Some of you may already know Nataly Kogan and her killer social networking site for business moms at WorkItMom. Nataly and I met, serendipitously enough, as I read her article on the Huffington Post about her struggles overcoming the “Mommy Stigma” in business.
Then we met at BlogHer, then we became friends, then we started swapping articles, then WorkItMom became a new sponsor here.
To me, this is the perfect advertiser for our site. We share the same goals - helping moms (and dads!) succeed in business and in life. I’ve linked to them in the past because I thought that WorkItMom would add value to your life.
We get to kick that up a notch now, and I’m pleased as punch! (Especially considering I have turned down well over $1000 in advertising revenue in the last month or so because I didn’t think those advertisers would add value to your experience here, there, or anywhere else for that matter).
So what better way to celebrate our new partnership with WorkItMom than to launch our own little group over there? All of the eMoms at Home authors are going to be hanging out and sharing tips, secrets, articles, and just hanging out - please join us! 
Every now and then, I read a post somewhere that really moves me. Lots of times, I can’t link to it, either because it’s not on topic, or my lineup is already filled with posts, or I’m just too dang busy working on my business.
But I got to thinking recently about the whole link-loving thing. I guess sometimes I forget how hard it seems in the first few months of blogging to get attention, traffic and those coveted links. Certainly, on my “Overdue Link Love” posts I try to spread the luv around. But then I read a post today by a woman I don’t even know, named Lizzie. And it moved me.
Lizzie has a brand new blog and wanted to try and monetize it. She turned to PayPerPost as a source of revenue, only to be flatly rejected because of her lack of Google Page Rank. So, in a quest for inbound links, Lizzie found a blogger who did link exchanges :: only to find that same said blogger refused all requests from sites with a Page Rank of less than 3.
Now, I may not be able to spend hours every week hunting out new and deserving bloggers to link to, but I can say this: that I have NEVER ONCE checked someone’s page rank before I decided to link or not. And you may disagree with me, but I don’t think it’s worth your time or energy to care about it, either.
Can I just state the obvious here :: sites without a current page rank will eventually get ranked. So let’s not be so dang short-sighted about our SEO goals here, people. URGH. What is a PR0 link today can be a PR6 link in 6-9 months.
Here’s a table that shows that even pages with a rank of 1 add up to help your total page rank “score”. Plus, there are even rumors that Google might do away with Page Rank altogether, anyway.
Write good headlines. Use good title and description tags. Link to sites that are relevant. Build relationships. Eventually, Google will love you for it. And if you are only relying on Google for traffic anyway, you’re missing out on some seriously great site building opportunities.
Lastly, I’ve always been grateful for every dang link that comes to this blog. Including Grant’s, Walter’s, Wendy’s, Jason’s, Leisa’s, Kate’s, WAH(web)Mommy’s and Jesse’s. These fine authors all have relatively new blogs in the work-at-home/small business niche and I think they deserve my link love and your attention.
And since running this site really is extremely time consuming, I’d like to ask that if you have a blog or site with good content (no splogs!!) that is a resource to entrepreneurs, work at home parents, or home business owners, please send me a note about your site. I would be happy to add you to this list, help build your page rank, and help you get the attention you deserve from Google, PayPerPost, or anyone else you wish to impress.
Are you working in a job and lacking decision making authority? Do you lack support from co-workers and supervisors? Do you have little independence in your job?
And are you depressed?
According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health, all these things may be linked. If you experience high work-related stress, the study suggests that you are at a higher risk for depression.
So is starting your own business the answer?
- If you’re an entrepreneur, you certainly have all of the decision making authority you could ever want (and some you may not want).
- You can either work solo or be darn sure that the people you hire are supportive of your business.
- And I guarantee you that independence is not an issue when you are running the show.
My $.02?
If you are a wannabe entrepreneur and you are staying in a job for security reasons, you aren’t being true to your real purpose.
And yes, denying a part of who you are can be damn depressing.
But several years ago, I experienced a long-term depression while I was running a business. While it definitely was linked to some post-partum factors, working for myself while in that state of mind was excruciating and very detrimental to my health, my happiness, and it was really detrimental to my business (points for stating the obvious?).
Yet today, I can also say that if I wasn’t pursuing my dream as I am right now, I would be even more depressed. I’ve come too far and life is too short to waste it on comfort and security at the expense of giving up on a dream.
What do you think?
Are you an entrepreneur who was miserable in a job in the past?
Or are you employed and is the stress affecting you more than you would like it to?
How much does running your own business contribute to your happiness?
(note: for those of you who think this may be Wendy writing again, and you know who you are, just a warning…it’s Dawud.)
I see so many businesses making the same mistake. They focus so much on themselves and their message that they forget they’re in business for their customers.
You know what I mean?
You visit their websites and what do you see: self-indulging content that says everything about who they are and what they do. Most people think, that’s okay. And it is, if you don’t mind missing out on the most important question you can ask in business:
How Can I Help You?
Yeah, I know, it’s pretty simple, right? So simple that I think we sometimes take it for granted. We think, somehow, we cover it when we’re writing about what our business can do. But often, it’s not covered.
So is that it? All I have to do is ask people in my niche market, how can I help you?
Of course not! You need to tell them how I can help you. In other words, you need to make the explanation of your business so clear to them that they can see themselves being helped by your business. To do this you need to do a couple of things:
- Be sure to answer WIIFM. Right off the bat your audience is going to be asking, what’s in it for me. So tell ‘em, right now. Make it clear - in their language, with simple English that there’s something here they want.
- Write about them. No one’s really going to be interested in what you do until they know you understand and care about them. So write about them and the problems and challenges they face. Make it clear, again, that you understand where they are.
- Solve it for them. Solve their problems - right there on your website. Give them the answers. Again, make it clear. Just don’t give away the how to use the answers part. The how is why they need to hire you or buy your products.
- Solve it for others. Get feedback, testimonials and case studies from people you’ve worked with. Post them all over your website showing people in your target market that you’ve solved this problem for others a number of times before.
- Call Us Now. Don’t expect people know what to do next. So tell ‘em. Give ‘em action steps so it’s clear to them what their next step is. Then they can choose the most appropriate response for them.
Your entire website (and blog) should emanate that you can help solve the problems your target audience face. Don’t hide it. Let ‘em know. Just be sure to let them know in a way that they can relate, understand and act from.
And remember to ask the most important question…how can I help you?
Hi, I’m Dawud Miracle. Professionally, I’m a blog and marketing consultant, business coach, educator and web developer who helps people use their websites to grow their business. I’m also a devoted husband and father to two, soon to be three, children. And I’m always interested in a good conversation.
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