A lot of solo-preneurs have trouble staying focused on one single business idea. If you’re in direct sales, you might start out with Avon, but if the profits are not what you expected, you might decide to jump ship and head for the pinker world of Mary Kay. If that’s not an immediate success, you might think the future isn’t in makeup, it’s in home decor, and off you go to try out Linen World or Southern Living at Home.

Even bloggers like me are not immune from the siren song of a shiny new thing. In fact, we might be even more susceptible. Give me ten bucks and five minutes with a hosting company and I can have a whole site up and running, with only the decorating to be done. Who wouldn’t choose the thrill of a brand new site over the same old same old you’ve been slaving over for the last few months?

The problem is, if you don’t give your baby business–be it a blog or an affiliate site or a Pampered Chef franchise–the time and attention it needs, it will wither and die away, and you’ll be left thinking you’re a failure for not having been successful at it.

Before You Start a Home Business

The best way to keep your focus is to start strong. That means knowing what your focus is before you even begin.

Do your research

Figure out what kind of business you want first, and then get more specific about the details. If you enjoy hosting parties, direct sales might be for you. If you love to write and be social on the Internet, blogging might be your thing. If you’re a wiz at office management you might like to be a Virtual Assistant.

Once you decide on the type of business you want, it’s time to specialize. Direct sales consultants can choose from dozens of opportunities. Whatever your passion is, there’s a product that matches. Bloggers need to choose a niche to blog in, VAs will have to decide what services to offer and to whom.

Write a business plan

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to do, it’s time to work out how you’re going to do it. That’s where a well thought out business plan comes in.

Everyone resists this step, but it really is the key to your success. The real power of a business plan is that it will make you think about exactly what you are doing and why you’re doing it. By working through a sample plan or template and taking the time to think about each section, you will have a much clearer picture of your goals and what you need to do to achieve them.

There are a lot of business plan samples available for free on the Internet. Pick one that most closely matches your business type and revise it accordingly. Unless you’re going to be using your business plan as a means to qualify for a loan, you don’t have to worry about sticking to a strict format or filling out all the cash flow projections and expected income. Just fill in the parts that are relevant to you and your business.

Craft your elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is simply a 30 second explanation of your business. Think of it as your business plan condensed into something that would fit on the back of a business card. Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has a great tutorial about writing an elevator pitch for a blog, but even if you’re not a blogger it’s worth taking a look at.

Most people will tell you to craft an elevator pitch so you have something coherent to say when someone asks you about your business, but I use an elevator pitch in a different way. Whenever I have to make a decision about a new direction to take in my business, a new product to promote, or a new website to start, I can pull out my elevator pitch (and my business plan) and see if the new thing fits in with the old thing. If it fits, great. If not, then I either have to rethink my business, or put the new idea on the “someday” list–the list of things I want to do, but that just don’t work for me right now.

After the Shiny Wears Off

Once you’ve had your business for a while, it’s easy to get distracted by the next new thing that comes along. Here are some ways to spruce up your business and make it “new” again.

• Do a redesign. If you’ve had a blog or a website for a while, boredom can cause you to start thinking about other business ventures. Maybe it’s time for a website redesign. Find a new theme, change up the colors, or even just change the header image. Sometimes all it takes to get excited about a project again is to rearrange the furniture a bit.
• Expand your business. Revisit your business plan and see if there are new markets you can target, new products you can sell, or new techniques you can use to improve your bottom line.
• Branch out. Are there complimentary services you can add to your business? A new product line you can add? Maybe an information product you can write and sell from your blog? Keep in mind that branching out does not equal going off in a completely new direction. You want to make sure that your new branch compliments your current business and doesn’t detract from it.

Keeping your business focused and on target will result in a stronger brand and higher profits. Perhaps even more important, though, is the greater feeling of confidence you’ll have knowing that every business decision you make is well thought out and designed with a clear goal in mind.

Have you ever found yourself losing your business focus? What did you do to get back on track? Let us know in the comments what worked (or didn’t) for you.

Find out more about Cindy Bidar.

Recommended Resource: Kelly McCausey’s The Power of a Focused Business.

This week’s Spark an Idea Thursday is about Improving Your Workspace.  We have some goofy, interesting and useful posts to share with you, whatever your workspace is like, I know you’ll get a lot out of our contributer’s tips.

First, I’m really pleased to see more business blogs participating in our Spark an Idea Thursday meme!

• Stephanie says that you need to be willing to invest in your workspace.
• Alice says ‘Workspace? I don’t need no stinking Workspace!’ (just kidding).

And from our Sparkplugging Authors:

• Laurie has some creative ideas for making the most of the space under your desk
• Traci says to make your workspace your own.
• Jenn is sharing pictures of her ebay workspace.
• Lynette has tips for organizing your virtual workspace.
• Brandie says to give your workspace some love.

Want to join in next week’s Spark an Idea Thursday?  I’ll be on the road to Toronto for a Tweetup with some awesome ladies next Thursday, so I would like to hear your ideas on Making ‘Real Life’ Connections With People You Know Online.

If you’d like to chime in on next week’s Spark an Idea topic, we’d love to have you join in.  Grab our image and make your post by 9am EST on Thursday the 16th, then tweet me to let me know and I’ll include you in the round up post here on Sparkplug CEO.

We are honored to be included on such a great list.  There are some amazing websites there we encourage you to check out.

You’ll find Sparkplugging tn the Productivity at Work section.

I get to wake up and walk down a flight of stairs to my home office.

My daily commute takes me about 30 seconds.

Sometimes I go to work in a t-shirt, athletic shorts and flip-flops but these are never my most productive days.

I’m most productive after a hot shower and a shave.

Then I try to do something with the mess on top of my head I call my hair ( I guess I should happy I still have it, right?)

I also enjoy wearing a long sleeve button down dress shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned and rolled up once or twice.

Sometimes I’ll wear a really nice pair of jeans and sometimes a nice pair of shorts, but either way, I’m feeling my best and most productive wearing my long sleeve oxford rolled up at the sleeves.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot… I’m always most productive when I’m wearing shoes!

Maybe you actually have to jump in your car and drive to your office and wearing t-shirts and flip flops is not an option for you?

Regardless you want to look good, right?

I mean really look the part.

After all, you might own a business or maybe you’re thinking or wanting to start a business and you’ll be attending seminars and networking events

Look, you only get one chance for a first impression, right?

It always amazes me when attending marketing seminars, chamber meetings or networking events of  just how sloppy some of my fellow business owners and entrepreneurs really look.

They could be the smartest person in the world but if they don’t take enough pride in themselves in the way they look, how disciplined are they in their business?

Would you really want to get involved in a project or joint venture with someone who does not take pride in themselves? I know I would not.

Think about it, how hard is it to take health advice from an overweight doctor?

So last night at my local Philadelphia Glazer Kennedy Insiders Circle Chapter meeting we got to hear from two style consultants, Lauren Wuscher and Mara Glazer from Imageineu.com.

Lauren and Mara specialize in helping your find what they call your “Entrepreneurial signature style.”

I really LOVED the idea of finding a signature look.

Your entrepreneurial signature style is really a look where others identify with you.

Think Donal Trumps hair, Matthew Lesko’s crazy question mark outfit ( You know the crazy guy screaming on TV about free government money) and Social Media Expert Mari Smith with her tourqoise outfits.

Let’s face it, social media and web 2.0 has taken over online marketing.

There is no slow down in the need for videos on YouTube and pictures on Facebook, right?

I mean it’s called Facebook for a reason folks!

I think your personal style is especially important if your doing any work with clients or if you are selling face to face.

The fact of the matter is you only get to make a first impression once.

Meeting your clients at a Starbucks in your T-shirt and flip-flops is probably not the way you’ll want to go about it, know what I mean?

So, if you feel like your style could use a little make over or if you would like help finding your “Entrepreneurial signature look” head over to IMAGEineu.com and pick up a ton of FREE tips on how to find your entrepreneurial signature style!

Let me know your thoughts on this topic, OK?

Do you have a signature style?

Are you struggling with your style?

Are you more productive when you’re dressed for success or when you’re dressed for the beach?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman

P.S. I know some of you are saying, ” I’m going to wear what I want to wear!” and this is fine, just remember, you only get to make ONE first impression.

You’ll never know when you’re going to meet your first 1 Million dollar client or joint venture partner, feel me?

P.S.S. Make sure you check back tomorrow where I’ll answer all your marketing and homebased business questions!

Google has recently made some changes to the interface of their local business directory that will allow you to take full advantage of local search.  Let’s take a look at how you can make it work for you.

You’ve always been able to add yourself to the Local Business Directory by visiting http://www.google.com/local/add.  Click on add new listing and you’ll get this screen.

Be sure to fill out every single field.  Every little piece has an influence on whether you show up when people look for you.  The description field should be filled with your products, services, and the areas you service.  You get 200 characters, you should use them all.

On the next screen you’ll be given the option to claim an already existing listing.  If one of those listings is you, make sure you claim that listing so you can update the info.  If none of them are you, choose add listing.

On the next screen you get to add yourself to Google’s categories.  Instead of being able to type in your categories, you have to pick from Google’s pre-determined categories.  Try to fill all five spots, but don’t put yourself into categories that having nothing to do with your business.  That’s spam and Google may penalize you in the rankings for cheating.  Fill out the rest of the listings and make sure you add pictures and videos.  The more you add, the better off you are.  If you can add videos of you doing your work or talking about your work, even better.  (extra hint: also post these videos on Youtube and your own website)

Now, after you’ve submitted, you have some more work to do (it’s worth it, I promise).  After you hit submit you’ll get a screen that will show you the status of your listing.  In some cases, your listing may be flagged for manual review by a Google employee.  If that’s the case it may take a few extra days for your listing to appear.  There’s nothing you can do to make it run faster, so just sit tight.

After your listing status says Active, you’ll start seeing activity like how many impressions (the number of times your local listing appeared in a search result) and actions (the number of times someone clicked on your listing, requested driving directions to your place, or clicked through to your website).  You can view more detail by clicking on View Report.

Do More

• Make sure you have a strong website that contains lots of local information about your company and your surroundings, like driving directions to your business, local companies you’ve worked with, and local events where you can be found.
• Links to your website from local authority sites are awesome.  Chamber of Commerce, college & university links, and other local sites can help your search rankings improve.
• Get reviewed.  Ask your happy customers to review you on relevant review sites.  For example, a Bed and Breakfast might ask customers to review them on CitySearch.com, TravelGuide.com, or other travel sites.

There can be a lot to finding your local search market.  Let us know in the comments below what kind of questions you might have!

Cory Huff is the blogging & social media specialist for Netbiz.com, an internet marketing firm in Portland, Oregon and one of our very own Sparkplugging Interns!  You can follow him on Twitter at @AGoodHusband

If you’re moonlighting at a work at home job, you’re probably working far more hours than the average office worker, and if you’re on your own then good, ergonomically designed office furniture may not in the budget. Here at Sparkplugging we run the gamut from cozy office space to recliner in the living room, but I didn’t see many ergonomically designed workstations or a single Aeron chair in the bunch.

Workplace Injuries to Watch Out For

Repetitive Strain Injuries.

Also known as cumulative trauma disorder, RSIs include such things as tendinitis, bursitis, de Quervain Syndrome, and a host of other syndromes and -itises that, for the modern information worker, cause pain in the hands, wrists, elbows, or shoulders. Surprisingly, the heavy hitter of RSIs, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, has not been shown to be caused by keyboarding or mousing as previously thought, but is now considered to be more of a risk to assembly line workers and those with a genetic predisposition toward narrowed carpal tunnels.

Eye Strain.

Extended computer use is the most common cause of eye strain, according to a study by the Mayo Clinic. Eye strain caused by computer use is so common it even has it’s own name: computer vision syndrome. Despite it’s rather foreboding name, computer vision syndrome is easily treated and rarely results in long term damage.

Lower Back Strain.

Lower back strain isn’t generally caused by working hunched over a computer all day, but it certainly isn’t helped by it, either. Poor posture and chairs with little or no lumbar support both contribute to back pain, and if you do have a back injury, can slow the healing process.

An Ounce of Prevention

There are a few changes you can make to your workplace (and habits) to prevent these and other work related injuries.

• Make sure your monitor is positioned so the top of the screen is at eye level. This will help prevent eye strain and neck injuries.
• Keep your monitor dust and fingerprint free.
• Position your keyboard directly in front of your monitor so your eyes don’t have to work so hard to refocus each time you look away from the monitor.
• Get a good, adjustable office chair which allows you to keep your feet flat on the floor and provides some lumbar support. If that’s not in the budget right now, invest in a footrest and a lumbar pillow to help keep your spine stable while you work.
• Lower your keyboard and mouse. Most desks are 28 to 30 inches high, which is too high for comfortable mousing and keyboarding. Install a keyboard tray on the underside of your desk to bring your keyboard to a more ergonomic level.

Beyond the Office

Maintaining your overall health is as important as the chair you sit in when it comes to preventing RSIs and low back strain, so make sure you are eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise. Carrots might not improve your eyesight, but eating a balanced, nutritious diet will improve your muscle tone, bone strength, and your energy level. Combine good nutrition with regular exercise to strengthen core muscles and you’ll likely find that lower back pain fading away.

One other important thing you can do to prevent workplace injuries is to simply get out of the office. Don’t fall into the trap of working all the time just because you work at home. Take frequent breaks, and make sure you are taking days off, just like if you worked for someone else.

This is a post from Leslie Truex, one of our WAHM 2.0 writers and author of the Work at Home Success Bible.  I asked her to share some wisdom with us from her experience in writing and publishing a book after many years as a web publisher.

If someone had told me ten years ago that I’d someday be a go-to gal for work-at-home information AND that I’d have a published book for moms who want to work at home, I’d have thought they were nuts. Its cliché I know, but true. First off, I didn’t start out in the corporate world so my business knowledge and experience was nil. And while I got good grades in school, writing terrified me.  And yet, here I am making a living from home and helping others do the same through my website WorkAtHomeSuccess.com and recently published book, The Work-At-Home Success Bible (Adams Media 2009). How did that happen??

I can tell you that it didn’t happen by design, at least not originally.

Like many young mothers, when I had children I wanted to be home with them, but couldn’t afford it. My work-at-home journey was typical of many moms in that I fell for scams and had a few unsuccessful attempts at a home business. What I really wanted was to work-at-home in a job, but there was woefully little information about telecommuting. What information I could find indicated that only people with very specific skills such as computer programming, editing, and translation were able to work at home.

But I persevered. As technology advanced, so did the opportunities to work from home. I have telecommuted as a social worker (I still do contract work in adoption) and freelanced online doing writing, research, and website maintenance. In 1998 I began to share my insights and discoveries about working at home on a website, WorkAtHomeSuccess.com. The site quickly grew as I added job postings, scam alerts, and resources. The site started as a hobby, but as advertising and affiliate programs came on the scene, I took advantage of them. Pretty soon the site developed into a stream of income.

Since then opportunities to work at home have exploded including telecommuting options. But the information about telecommuting was still lacking. There were a few websites and even fewer books that covered the details about telecommuting.  As a telecommuter who was helping others find telecommuting work, I thought I was a good candidate to write a book about the ins and outs of finding a work-at-home jobs.  I did what the writing books told me which was to write a book proposal and send it off to agents. Unfortunately no agents wanted it. Nor did they tell me why. In the end,  I published the book through POD with small success.

By 2006 there still wasn’t any traditionally published resources that fully detailed how to find a work-at-home job, so I decided to pitch a book again.  This time I studied publishing paying special attention to platforms. Because my website had good traffic and a thriving email list, I had a platform in place (ready-made buyers). Another change to the proposal was in my “voice”. Instead of writing in the dry style of an academic paper, I wrote in the voice of the pajama mama-clad work-at-home mom that I’d become. The query was rejected 9 times but two agents asked for the full proposal and both offered to represent me.

After some tweaking, the proposal went out to publishers and was eventually bought by Adam’s Media. The only change the publisher made was that instead of a book about telecommuting alone, it wanted a complete guide… a Bible (its term not mine) on working at home.

If you’ve been considering publishing a book through a traditional publisher, you may have heard how difficult it is to get an agent or a publisher. My experience wasn’t bad, but that’s because I did my homework. The truth about publishing is that you need more than the expertise and the ability to string words together coherently. You also need a platform and terrific marketing plan.  Publishers need to know that you’ve got an audience and know how to reach them. Traditional publishers offer great distribution, but the big marketing budget is only used for their top writers (Stephan King etc). So if publishers are going to invest in your book, you need to tell them how and where to reach your audience.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Build your platform first. Know your brand and get it out in the world. Use PR, public speaking, article writing, blogging, podcasting, social networking, email newsletters, and anything else you can think of to position yourself as an expert. Use resources such as HARO (HelpAReporter.com) and Pitchrate.com to let reporters know you’re an expert they can interview. (PRLeads.com is a good source to but it’s expensive).
2. Write a proposal that outlines your book including a well-planned out marketing plan. Areas that need to stand out besides the quality of writing are your hook and platform. Further, make sure the proposal as well as the sample chapters reflect your writing style and personality. There are many good books to help with this.
3. Identify agents or publishers that fit your topic. The biggest gripe agents and publishers have about new writers is that they submit books on topics they don’t represent. Writer’s Market (book and online) and other sources have lists of agents and publishers. Study agent/publisher websites and lists of books they’ve already worked on to see if yours will fit.
4. If you’re emailing agents/publishers (only do so if they indicate they accept email queries), send a query letter first as opposed to the whole proposal. Make your query as compelling as possible to generate interest. Again, there are fabulous books (I like How to Write Irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool) to help you with this.
5. Understand that rejection is part of the process.  Consider tweaking your proposal and query if it’s receiving lots of rejections. Keep researching agents and publishers. Even JK Rowling got rejections.
6. If you still don’t find a traditional publisher, consider self-publishing. Today Print-On-Demand is affordable and very easy. You can get an ISBN and have your book listed along all the others at Amazon and bookstores. Self-publishing is another way to built your credibility and platform, and could eventually lead to a book deal. Many authors got their traditional book deal through their self-publishing efforts.

I may not have started out to be a work-at-home professional or a writer, but I’m thrilled to be where I am and I’m eagerly looking forward to the future with new plans and projects! Who knows where I’ll end up?

It seems like everyone’s offering advice about sales and marketing these days. And for good reason - you can’t be successful in business without a successful marketing and sales strategy.

But it seems like a lot of entrepreneurs are so focused on ways to sell more stuff that they’ve forgotten the fundamental rule of business: you’ve got to be selling something worth buying.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I made my first foray into the world of entrepreneurship. I was 17, and there was a crafts show coming up in my area. This would be the perfect opportunity to sell my handmade clay jewelry!  I spent hours making bracelets, necklaces, and earrings; carefully placing price tags on each item; and figuring out how to display my wares.

The day of the crafts show arrived, and I got there early to set up. I couldn’t have been more excited. People started pouring in and I knew it would only be a matter of time before my first sale. I stood behind my little table for 6 hours, and smiled at every potential customer that walked by.  A lot of potential customers walked by, and many of them stopped to ask questions, but none of them bought anything.

That’s right - I didn’t sell a single piece of my jewelry that day (or ever, in fact). So what was the problem? I had displayed my products in a visually appealing way, there was plenty of foot traffic, the prices were low, and I worked hard to connect with the passers-by.

It turns out there just wasn’t a market for cheap clay jewelry made by a 17 year old girl with very little jewelry-making talent. I was selling something that wasn’t worth buying.

That lesson has stuck with me, and to this day I won’t sell something I don’t believe in. In my career I have sold advertising, corporate sponsorships, test preparation courses, kitchen products, freelance writing & editing services, books, food & wine, and even jewelry (made by others, of course). In each case I was successful because the stuff I was selling was worth buying. I knew it, the customers knew it, and it made all the difference.

This is a guest blog post from Alice Seba, the Internet Marketing Sweetie.

If you’ve had an online business for more than 5 minutes, you probably already know that writing articles is an awesome way to get more traffic. Adding press releases to your marketing plan can provide you with even more exposure. There is definitely a difference in formatting between articles and press releases. The good news is, you can make the most of your writing time because some of the articles your write can be tweaked into press releases…or vice-versa.

When you write an article, you are basically writing as if you were composing an email or a report. It has a title, an opening paragraph, a couple of detailed paragraphs and a closing followed by your author bio, or resource box. You are usually teaching your readers about a particular topic or showing them how to do something. Articles usually some more conversational a press release.

With a press release, however, things are a little different.

Media outlets have a specific format they expect. While some differ, for the most part they are all the same. There are 6 components that a press release should include and we covered that in an earlier post.

Although some traditional press releases are designed to give news about a particular company, releases that educate, just like your articles, are highly effective. For example, if you write an article to teach about a new container gardening technique and in your byline you promote your ebook, you can certainly turn this into an article that informs people of the new technique and its benefits. Of course, the format of the release is different, but the message remains essentially the same.

The question isn’t really whether you should write a press release or an article– do both! Learn how to generate tons of free exposure for your online business with a small investment of time.

If you’re ready to write your first press release and get it out to the media, sign up for the free press release course…and get started the right way. Click here to sign up.

Are you a business owner trying to figure out how your profiles on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are going to create buzz for your business? Or, more importantly, are they going to create buzz that will lead to more business?

Social media is not a silver bullet no more than newspaper ads are or the 30 second radio or TV spot. Just like any form of advertising, the first thing you need is a strategy. You must use your strategy to help generate the keywords, titles & content that you will write in your profiles on all of these social media sites.

Lets start with a few questions:

• Who is my audience or who do I want my audience to be?
• What information will my audience be looking for and how can I supply that information?
• Who is my competition and how can I be unique enough to stand out?  EX:  How many other online wine retailers are there? Why does everyone know who Gary Vaynerchuk is and not them?
• What result am I looking to produce related to my presence on this site?

This is much easier if you do this before you start signing up for sites and filling in profiles but don’t worry if you have already signed up, most of these sites are easy to edit. Also, once you get this setup you can easily transfer this info to other sites so you have a consistent brand across the web.

Lets examine these…

Who is my audience or who do I want them to be?

Do you know who your audience is? Look at your product line and customer database and try to figure out who your ideal customer is. If you are happy with your current customer then focus on them. You already have the data, look at it and try to build a picture of your ideal customer. If you want to target a new customer the next question is very important.

What information will my audience be looking for and how can I supply it?

Create buyer personas (detailed descriptions, several sentences long, of your typical buyer) for each of your target markets. Depending on your product line you many have many of these personas.

Who is my competition and how can I be unique enough to stand out?

If you were going to buy a hybrid car, which one is the number one selling hybrid in the US? The Toyota Prius. Is it better than all the other hybrids that exist. Edmunds.com list 32 different models of hybrids from 14 different manufacturers. Yet one outsells all the others. Why? If you were going to compete against Prius you would have to be more than just another hybrid. What makes you stand out against your competition. Are you just another company performing the same thing or is what you offer unique and different.

What result am I looking to produce related to my presence on this site?

Why am I on this particular network. Is to build your brand? Connect with your customers? Drive traffic to your website that you can convert to sales? You need to give some clear thought to that and build your strategy around that. Understand that some networks are better at some of those goals than others. Some prohibit selling in their terms of service, others may not prohibit it but the members may not appreciate it and if you try that route you may have significant backlash from the community.

Just like the US Marines have different battle tactics for attacking from the water, in the mountains. or in the desert, you need to have different tactics in your marketing and you need to remember that social media is only one of them. Without a larger strategy to tie it all together you will likely invest a lot of time putting out an incoherent message that generates little to no results.

Christopher Johnston (@chrisjohnston) is 37-year old husband, father, christian, iPhone owner, and new Mac user. A recovering former financial advisor, passionate about the new green economy and how it will help my hometown, New Orleans, recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Image courtesy of  Pete Kim

Ever since I got my dual monitor set up a couple of weeks ago, Tweetdeck is almost my constant companion here to the right of my main monitor.  I love that I can casually monitor activity this way - just like I might vaguely listen in to chatter around me if I were working in a big office.

Here are my #followfriday recommends for cool peeps to follow this week on Twitter:

• @lindseypollak - Not just because she’s a blogger but because she says she loves cupcakes.
• @rockyourday - Dave Navarro has a kickass blog post you should read right away.
• @jenniferbourn - A print and web designer who gets it.
• @pajamaspr - Elena Verlee is a PR gal who describes herself as a serial entrepreneur.  (Who isn’t one?)

Who do you think I should follow? Feel free to leave a comment and tell me

If you sent me a question I want to personally thank you and keep them coming!

It really does mean a lot to me knowing you’re reading my blog and taking the time to send in your questions!

Without your questions this segment will never take off so I’m depending on you to keep it going!

So, the first question comes from Jamie Harrington and she asks…

” How do you decide what?s right for you and your blog money making wise? At what point do I start to look like a total sell out blog with no important info?”

Well this is a very good question and a mistake I see a ton of online marketers make!

The last thing in the world you want to do is constantly “pimp” your products.

So, with this said, here are a few pointers to think about when selling from your blog or website.

First, always think about what you can GIVE back to the world rather than what you want to TAKE from it.

I learned this from my? business and marketing coach Craig Garber who learned it from a very famous french marketer and copywriter, Christian Godefroy.

In other words it’s all about the relationships you have with your customers.

Nothing gets sold until you build a relationship and trust with your customer or prospect,FIRST!

The more YOU give the more your prospects will want to give back…hopefully in the form of money!

Another tip I got from Craig is, ” Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care!”

Again, it’s all about the relationship.

You’ll want to make sure you’re giving your readers, customers and prospects a ton of information FIRST– and then make an offer.

This is why I love two step lead generation.

Basically two step lead generation is when you offer something for free ( usually information such as a free report, free DVD or CD with information you’re selling.)

The reason it’s call two step lead generation is because the first step is when a prospect raises his or her hand and says, ” Yes I want your free report on X.”

The second step is the follow up with your prospect and making them an offer to then buy what you’re selling.

Make sense?

This way you’re only selling to those folks who raised their hand and said they were interested in you or what you’re selling.

So, depending on what you’re selling, you could put together some sort of free report, DVD or CD giving away some information about your product.

And then, at the end of your free report, make an offer for your product or service.

For example, let’s say you are selling an e-book on organic gardening.

You could put together a free report on organic gardening only giving a little bit of info here and there…giving them the why but not the how, got it?

At the end of your free report you’ll make an offer for your more comprehensive e-book showing them step by step how to start and maintain an organic garden.

See how this works?

You’re actually selling the free report and not “pimping” your products.

So at the end of your blog post where you’re talking about how to find the best organic soil for your tomato plants, you’ll say something like this…

If you’d like to discover more about the benefits of Organic Gardening and how you can keep your family safe from harmful pesticides, I’ve created a free booklet or CD or DVD called ” 7 Secrets to growing mouth watering fruits and vegetables with Organic Gardening.” Simply enter your name and email and I’ll rush you this FREE report right away!

So now you are not really selling your product directly but you are generating leads and now you have a list of people who are really interested in what you have to sell.

Now once you get the lead don’t blow it and not follow up with them. You’ll want to load your auto responder again with good information.

Sooner or later you prospect will be like, man, Jamie is really sending me a ton of good information, I really should buy her e-book…

Now you might still get some folks who don’t buy or even opt out of your auto-responder, that’s OK because they really aren’t your customer anyway.

You only want to deal with those folks who love you!

So there you have it!

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman

P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this topic so make sure you leave your comments below.

This week’s Spark an Idea Thursday is about managing your business over the Holidays.

Will you be taking a few extra days off over the Fourth of July?  If you’re in Canada, are you taking a break for Canada Day festivities?

We entrepreneurs can have a hard time unplugging from business and the web.  I don’t really even like to be totally disconnected.  I usually have my Blackberry with me at the very least.  Still, I know that it’s healthy to disengage now and then.

The holidays are the perfect time.  But how to make it happen?

• Brandie says to plan for it.
• Lynette has created a system with her support team.
• Leslie is saying plan and have a system.

LOL!  Do you spot a trend here?

By the way, I apologize for not publishing this week’s Spark an Idea topic on last week’s round up post.  My bad!

Next week’s topic is:  Sparking an Idea to Improve Your Workspace.

If you’d like to chime in on next week’s Spark an Idea topic, we’d love to have you join in.  Grab our image and make your post by 9am EST on Thursday the ninth, then tweet me to let me know and I’ll include you in the round up post here on Sparkplug CEO.

We recently shared pictures of our home office workspaces with you - so I’ll be curious to hear what advice our Sparkplugging Authors will have for you!  And what tips you’ll share as well!

Now I usually have some sort of business education CD playing on marketing, copywriting or how to get more traffic to websites. ( This is a huge lesson and I’ll write more about this in an upcoming post, OK?)

But this morning I was not playing my CD’s because my kids were in the car and the pain of listening to their moans and groans to my CD’s apparently outweighs my business education.

So anyway, I hear the Stock Market is in a tail spin because the United States lost another 4,67,000 jobs in June, increasing the unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 9.5 %!

Now when I lost my job a little over a month ago I was actually in pretty good shape compared to most folks.

You see,  for the past two years I had started a few part-time home based businesses.

Now I say part time because it was not my main profession but I was putting in at least 40 hours a week into these businesses.

And you know what…It was a lot of work.

I’d say my first year was spent pretty much learning everything I could about marketing, copywriting and other skills related to my web site design and Philadelphia SEO business.

In fact, I spent over $20K last year on my education between seminars, coaching, offline courses and mastermind groups.

Joining coaching and mastermind groups was the biggest reason for my growth last year.

The reason folks join coaching groups and seminars in the first place is to cut down on the amount of time it takes to learn new skills.

And I know many of you out there who are considering or wanting to start your own business probably have a lot of questions on how to get started right?

How would you like to cut your learning curve or simply improve your business?

So,  send me your marketing, copywriting, internet marketing and home based business questions, OK?

Rest assured, I’ll do my very best to answer you.

I’m thinking I’ll post answers to your questions every Friday.

Sound good?

Great!

So check back with me every Friday for a new question and answer session where I answer your marketing and business questions.

I don’t want you to become a victim of circumstances!

I’ve had it up to here with people complaining and wishing they could control their own destiny.

Stop wishing and do!

The late great copywriting Gary Halbert said, ” It’s motion not meditation” and he was right don’t you think?

Remember, a business owner does not OWE you a job.  It’s a privilege…but why not take your destiny into your own hands.

So, send in your questions! Just post them below in the comments box and I’ll be sure to answer each and everyone as best I can, OK?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… CY: wait… I: wait… YCat: wait… I: wait… Top: wait… I: wait… L: wait… C: wait…

Today, I’m pleased to launch a new one.

Blog Internship was developed as a direct response to my readers, listeners and mailing list subscribers who have been keenly interested in how I work with my blogging interns at Mom’s Talk Network.

In my internship, I take brand new bloggers and teach them the basics of social networking and successful blogging.  Week by week they learn new habits and strategies and put them into practice on my blog network. They get feedback and constructive critique on their writing and blog formatting. They learn how to make relevant, natural affiliate recommendations that help to monetize the content. They give me ten hours a week and in return I give them coaching and access to my learning resources.  Basically, it’s a super sized barter agreement.  We both give, we both get.

Naturally, I can only accept a small number of interns in each session.  This past spring I received hundreds of applications and accepted ten.  That left a lot of dissappointed baby bloggers out there - and they where among those who have been asking me if I would ever consider selling access to my intern’s training program.

These requests were interesting, but my first thought was that it wouldn’t work.  The lesson plans are great - but the real benefit to my interns is in the group coaching sessions we have each week and the feedback and brainstorming that takes place when we’re communicating about their intern projects.

What’s more interesting to me and what ultimately spurred me into action is that I have been receiving multiple requests from other bloggers as well.  Bloggers who did not apply for the internship and who are not interested in spending time working on someone else’s blog.  They just want to help doing what my interns do on their own websites.

After chatting with some past interns and a few friends, I realized I could develop a curriculum that provides the best of the internship offered in three levels.  I have recorded a special version of the ‘group coaching’ session to go with each week’s lesson plan so that a blogger that wants to go it alone can do so and still get the benefit of my explanation and encouragement. Bloggers who want more help can choose a higher level of membership.

I never would have thought about creating something like this if my market hadn’t asked about it.  And sadly, I may have never acted on their requests if there hadn’t been a few who were darned persistent about it.

Are you listening to your people?

Do you regularly ask your readers, listeners and subscribers to talk to you?  Sometimes it can be as simple as asking them what they want to know. Or just ending a message with a ‘what do you think?’

Over the years I’ve come to understand and appreciate that my personal mailing list subscribers are a mouthy bunch.  They tell me what they think.  They encourage me.  They ask for what they need.

I can’t always give them what they ask for but I do pay attention.  Sometimes the nuttiest requests lead to an amazing new idea.  Hopefully, Blog Internship is one of them.

If you are one of the gadget elite, I have good news for you.

Sparkplugging, the blog network, is now available on your Kindle.  For $1.99 a month you’ll have easy access to all of our posts anytime you like, wherever you are.

Cool huh?

Would you like to publish your blog via Kindle?  Just sign up here.

Yes, I am a television addict.  That probably shocks a lot of people who are always asking me how I have time to do everything I do and it should confirm once and for all that I don’t do all that I do ;)  (Outsourcing is a lovely thing.)

Actually, I watch a lot of television while I work.  Remember the evil Mac from my home office heaven post?  It’s primarily used as a TV.  (Yep, that’s Hulu.com on the screen.)

There are a lot of things that I do that requires focused attention but there are also a lot of things I do that can be done with a favorite program running on the side - and I have a lot of favorite programs - The Bachelorette being one of them.

So I know you probably couldn’t care less about my TV addiction or that I’m hooked on keeping up with Jillian’s current attempts at finding love, but I do have a topic that I want to pull from the program and that is issue of Ed.

Ed is a tall handsome man from Monroe, Michigan.  He was definitely finding favor with Jillian - but in episode five he shocked us all by telling her that he had to bow out of the program and head home to take care of work.  (His career is listed as ‘Technology Consultant’ and he mentioned talking with ‘his boss’ so he isn’t a solopreneur.)

I have often wondered how these adults manage to walk away from their real lives for such a long time in order to participate in a reality TV show.  Surely they earn something for their participation, but there has to be a pretty bit sacrifice involved.

When Ed told Jillian he had to go home, a part of me totally understood.  Sometimes our work is in a place that requires a lot of our attention. Hopefully not all the time, that would suck.

Jillian was visibly heartbroken and said it was obvious that Ed’s priorities were in a different place than hers.  She talked about risk. She was taking a big risk doing the show so she certainly knows a lot about it.

Love is a risk.  Taking time away from a career is a risk.

I don’t envy his decision at all, how about you?

Have you been faced with a choice like this?  Devoting time to a budding new relationship vs devoting time to growing your business?  Would you put love on hold or even say goodbye to it just to get more work done?

I can’t help but think that Ed was making a big mistake.   But who knows?  We all have to make daily decisions about what we give our time and attention to.

Fast forward to episode number seven.  Believe it or not, Ed came back and asked Jillian to let him back into the group.  He regretted his choice and wanted another chance.  When he walked through the door I think my heart thrilled just as much as Jillian’s, it was so sweet and vulnerable for him to come back and take that risk.  She could say no and leave him looking like a fool on TV.

But she didn’t.

I don’t know if Jillian will choose Ed in the end.  I’m sure she has some tough questions for him about his career goals and priorities.

Of course, I’ll be watching

(And rooting for Ed.)

The plugin that grabbed my attention is WP-Invoice.

In my business I accept payments both through a merchant account and through PayPal and my shopping cart is all set up with both.  Where I have had trouble is in the area of freelance work and other odds and ends that I accept payments for now and then.  I either have to log into PayPal to create an invoice or have them call me to give me a credit card - which means I have to log into my virtual terminal.

With this plugin I can create an invoice in a snap and email it to the client for action.  They can choose to pay me through their PayPal account or with a credit card through my merchant account. It’s much more automated and it keeps a nice record of past invoices.

It is a small change but it will save me time and you gotta love that.

If you’re not keeping in eye on our Tools, News & Technology Blog, you may be missing some great time saving solutions.

This is a guest blog post by Alice Seba, the Internet Marketing Sweetie.

We work writing great content for our blogs and to be honest, it can suck if we don’t get the traffic we deserve (or that we need to earn a decent income!). It feels like a vicious cycle…you can’t get the traffic without doing the work, but it’s tough to justify all the work if you aren’t getting decent traffic. Here are 11 ways you can increase blog traffic and break that cycle.

1. Be Extraordinary

This tip is numero uno for good reason. If you do this, much of the rest will fall into place. Being unique will increase blog traffic long term even if you do little else.

Be extraordinary by:

• Teaching - Teach your readers what they need to know. Convey the information in a way your audience likes.
• Entertain – Inject a bit of humor (if you’re funny – if you’re not, skip it) and don’t be afraid to let a bit of your personality show in your writing. Get the reader’s attention by being genuine.
• Connect with Your Readers - Understand and speak to their problems, concerns and even their dreams and goals.
• Be a Little Controversial - Share your opinion…not everyone has to agree with you, and some people may be loyal readers even if they disagree. Noone wants to read a blog that’s always middle of the road on everything.

While the “if you build it, they will come” attitude is not totally realistic, there is some truth to it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proactive in your efforts to increase blog traffic.

2. RSS Feed

At this point it should be a given, but there are still plenty of blogs without an RSS feed or without it being prominently displayed. If you’re not familiar with the term, an RSS feed allows your readers to be notified automatically when you write a new post. Unless your audience is very tech-savvy, it’s probably best to set up a feed that allows your reader to sign up for updates into their feed reader or email if they prefer. An easy way to set this up is to use a free service like FeedBurner.com.

3. Ping!

Make sure your blog is set up to ping the various weblogs. Many blog platforms allow you to set this up easily in your publishing settings. This lets a variety of information/search sites know that you’ve updated your blog without you having to manually notify them.

4. Leave Comments

Make useful comments on popular blogs related to your blog’s topic or that interest your target market. Usually, you can link back to your site when you make a comment on another blog. Don’t spam! Only use the space provided for your link…don’t write ads or fancy signatures AND make sure your comment is relevant and useful to other readers. Not following these rules of etiquette may get your comment deleted.

5. Trackback

Many blogs allow you to expand the dialogue and make commentary about their posts on your own blog. When you link to a particular blog post, a link to your own blog post appears in the comments area on their blog. For trackbacks between WordPress blogs, all you need to do is link to a blog post and it’s automatically set up. BE RESPECTFUL: If you’re going to trackback, say something meaningful. Just summarizing and linking to someone’s post does NOT add to the discussion. Don’t be a magpie, put your own spin on the story.

6. Use Your Email List

You already know that your mailing list is one of your most valuable assets in your business. Utilize this asset to the full - send them to your blog to read the posts you think they will enjoy.

7. Distribute Your Content

A great way to increase blog traffic is to get your content out there to a wider audience. You can distribute your articles, your videos, you can guest post on other blogs…just get some good stuff out there and lead people back to read your blog.

8. Get Affiliates Linking to Your Blog

If your affiliate program allows your affiliates to link to any page on your site, encourage them to link to and write about your various blog posts. They’re likely already talking about you on their blog. Now encourage them to do it more and reward them for it! Quicksales.com (a private-label 1ShoppingCart) allows your affiliates to quickly and easily link to any blog post they want.

Affiliate referrals are cookied when someone follows a link and if that referral eventually buys, they get the commission. The conversions on blog links aren’t likely to be as high as linking directly to your sales page, but it gives your affiliates the opportunity to bring value to their own readers (by linking to your incredible content) and the potential to benefit by increasing their commissions.

9. Social Media

You can use various social media sites (such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) to increase blog traffic. People you connect with socially are likely to want to read your blog. Make sure you follow proper etiquette and use good common sense. Just because someone is your “friend” on a social media site doesn’t mean you should spam them. Also, set limits with your self so you don’t overdo it and spend too much time with this. There is more profitable WORK to be done to boost your blog. Plus, if you are remarkable, those who use social networks will be doing much of the marketing for you - they’ll talking about you and refer their network to you.

10. Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking includes sites like Digg, del.icio.us and Stumble Upon, where you can share links to a variety of content. Some people self-bookmark, but realize this could put your account in jeopardy, so read all the rules first. Others choose to work with others in helping each other bookmark. Being remarkable also encourages people to spread the word on your behalf.

11. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is mentioned last. While many marketers would put it first, your goal is repeat visitors who become loyal readers and customers. Putting SEO first may hamper this goal. Do SEO on your article or static html pages where first-time or drive-by visitors may visit.

Too much SEO on your blog can be a turnoff. An extraordinary is written with interesting subject lines (rather than boring keyword phrases) and isn’t always on topics that people use a search engine to find. Of course, you can keep SEO in mind as you blog and there are tools and plug-ins available for your blog that can assist you with this. Just remember to write for your reader first, and search engines second.

If you’re looking to pull more profit out of your business blog, check out the IM Blogging Bootcamp. This 4-week intensive program designed to get you actively and effectively blogging to reach more of your prospects and convert more of them into lifelong customers.

@JessicaGottlieb -  Makes me wonder if I owe anybody any money and would a #followfriday settle the debt? LOL!

@iszuddin - Great attitude!

@andrewwee - Love to see a proud Daddy crowing about a new baby and loving that he registers a domain right away.