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The holidays are extra-hectic. And this is extra-true for a home business owner. The first holiday season can seem daunting, especially since many times you still have to work, if not on Christmas, but on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. One perk of working for "the man" is that you get some of this time off.

Happily, you can get through your first holiday season as a home business owner. It just takes planning, and a lot of hard work. The B5 Media Business Channel offers a case study on getting through your first holiday season as a home business owner. There are a lot of great tips -- and food for thought about what you can do once the holidays are over!

I found a site that can help you to get more traffic to your blog. It is called Entrecard and it is fairly new. It is different than most traffic exchange sites. The concept is very interesting and unique.

Entrecard allows you to make a business card for your blog. Then you exchange your "business card" with other members. You get credits for every card you drop off with someone else and also credits for cards dropped with you.

The credits allow you to advertise your blog on a widget that is placed on member's sites. You can pick which site you would like your blog to be advertised on as long as you have enough credits. Other blog owners will request to advertise on your widget as well, which will give you more credits.

I decided to give this new system a try. I placed the widget on my blog last evening. Since then, I have recieved 21 visits to my blog from Entrecard. That seems like a decent number in such a short time. The question is, are these worthwhile visits or just users dropping off their card?

I think most of those visits are just quick visits for card drop offs. However, you never know when a visitor like that might take an interest in the content of your blog. I have dropped off my card too and I did take notice of each blog I visited. I think there is potential there to turn visitors into actual readers.

I will let you know what I think about Entrecard after I have been with it longer. So far, it seems to show more potential than any other traffic system I have tried.

If you do freelance work of any kind, then you will appreciate this. I posted an amusing story on my blog yesterday about an ad placed by a frustrated freelancer.

Freelancers Expected To Work For Peanuts?

"I saw this ad on Craigslist today posted by a frustrated freelance writer. This person is aggravated at all of the freelance writing opportunities that offer insulting payment compensation. I have to tell you, this cracked me up when I read it! Let me share...... "

You can read the whole thing including the amusing ad here. Even if you don't do freelance work, as a business owner I am sure you can relate in some way. 

One work from home job that many people enjoy is affiliate marketing. It allows a home business a product that is easy to sell, and many a stay at home mom (or dad!) has been turned into a work at home parent by turning a hobby into something that can make them money as well.

My friend D.J. has been doing affiliate marketing with Close to My Heart scrapbooking supplies. She started because she wanted the discounts, and now she makes a modest amount. But she loves it, and she can always make more. Here are the answers she had to questions about her work from home experience:

1. What do you do?

I signed up. Just Kidding. I went to a home party, thought it looked really easy to do, loved the      product, wanted it all. So I signed up to support my addiction.

No. I didn't really have any skill. To this day, I rarely come up with original artwork/cards/scrapbook pages. I use our Idea books/catalogs for ideas, and these books called Cherish and Imagine that we sell. They're step-by-step instructions for scrapbook pages, and I always look like I know what I'm doing when I use those. :)

Over the years, certain things have started getting easier. For example how to balance out a layout,   etc. I don't know how that happened. Repetition, I guess.

Mostly it's my friends/neighbors that eventually find out I sell the stuff, and they are interested. However, I do leave catalogs and business cards whenever I think about it. Like at my hair salon, karate studio, doctor's dentist's. You know, places like that. I also get customers from home parties I do. Someone will host a party, and from that show, I meet all these new contacts, and if they want, I put them on my e-mail list for monthly specials.

Editor's note: D.J. also used to hold cardmaking and scrapbooking classes that I thoroughly enjoyed attending.

I can do it as much, or as little, as I want. Work a lot one month, none at all the next. No one over me, telling me I have to get this done by this day. I don't ever have to miss wrestling matches, basketball games, or ballet recitals. I'm always home if the kids need me. Also, when we move, it's so easy - since I work from home, work is where my home is at, not in a certain city and state.

7. Finally, stats:
Age: 25
# kids: 3
How much you make: I make on the much lower end of they pay scale - I do this as a hobby, not as an income. I usually make about $70 a month. But I know some ladies who make thousands a month, doing the same thing as me. It just all depends on how much you want to put into it. Right now, what I make is good for me. If later, I want to make more, I can. And I won't have to move or switch jobs.

As a work from home mom, I know how difficult it can be to get something done at times. But even more crucial is this: protecting the work you've already done for your home business. Parenting.com (on CNN) offers some great ideas about how to protect the work you do for your home business:

*Secure trash so that your children don't throw out something important in an effort to "help"
*Save everything on the computer so that you can print out a copy if one get ruined
*Back up computer files once a week (Zip or CD) so that they can be restored if a computer crash happens

Social bookmarking is a popular and effective way to promote your website content. It helps to spread your content further and allows others to promote your material.

I wrote about social media marketing in my blog Freelancer For Hire . I talk about the importance of timing when it comes to hitting the bookmark button:

"Just like everyone else, I am eager to hit the Digg button or Stumble my story. Not so fast! Have you ever taken into consideration the time of day or the day of the week before submitting your content? You might want to hold off on using that bookmark until the time is right.

I have found that WHEN I bookmark content can play a big part on the popularity of the piece. Before I get too far into this, keep in mind that we are all in different time zones. Base what you do on your specific time zone or the time zone you are targeting.

The times that I think seem to be the best are read the rest......."

Hopefully you will find this useful and make the most of your social bookmarking.

Your home computer is your life line when you work from home. If it goes down, you are in trouble. That is what happened to me this morning and what a bad feeling it brings on!

I got up this morning and turned my computer on as usual. The DSL router was not cooperating so I unplugged everything and then plugged it all back in. I turned everything off and turned it all back on. Nothing was working so I finally made the dreaded phone call to Verizon customer support. If you have ever had to call them for help, then you know why I refer to it as a dreaded phone call.

After working with Verizon for almost an hour, they finally decided that that the router was fried. They are shipping a new router to me. I turned off the entire power strip to my computer and shut everything down conceding my defeat.

Well, I am just not the type to give up. I decided to power everything back up for one last try. To my amazement, my DSL router lit up green and started working again! I guess it just wanted to sleep in a little late this morning.

I must tell you what a sinking feeling it is when you think you cannot do your work. The thought of not having access to the internet for one whole day was scary! When you work from home, you have to rely on your equipment to function properly. You don't have the benefit of a handy IT guy like you might if you were working in an office.

Technology is amazing. I love computers and everything they allow us to do. It is unfortunate that it has come to the point where I feel like I am missing a limb when my computer is down. Is technology a blessing or a curse?

While I was poking around over at Second Life Pros (a great Second Life blog), I saw a link to MyNetworkValue.com. This is a cool tool that allows you to input information about members of your network, and see about how much potential value you have, in monetary terms, from your network. Mine was right around $800,000.

As Simone at SLP pointed out, thought, the tool doesn't take into account the value gained from social networking sites like LinkedIn (which has yielded all sorts of value for me), Facebook and more. But it is a good tool that can get you thinking about your contacts, and how you can better utilize them in your home business.

If your work from home business includes sales over the Internet, today is your day. The Monday after Thanksgiving has been dubbed "Cyber Monday," the busiest Internet shopping day of the year.

You can draw some of that shopping fervor to your home business Web site by being sure to post a blog post that highlights a special product you have, as well as sales. Use your RSS feed to get the word out on specials that you are offering on your products.

Offering specials is a great way to draw people to your home business Web site, getting them to hopefully stick around and buy non-special items. It's been working for brick-and-mortar retailers for years. A little tweak is all it needs for you to make it a success on Cyber Monday -- and throughout that holiday shopping season.

On Friday, I wrote a post in Shak In Style. My post was tagged for a game of blog tag!

I took my turn in the tag game today. I would like to invite you to view it. You can find it in Shak In Style right HERE. I hope you enjoy it. I found it to be very fun!

P.S.- Although it was just a game, it is a great way to network!

I've been going crazy. I love Thanksgiving, and I still get it off, even though I work from home. But my son doesn't have school today, and the day after Thanksgiving is definitely a day that my home business need to be in full swing. So, what can I do with my son (and my husband!) home for the day?

Work from Home Momma has the solution. She offers 25 ideas for things that kids can do to keep busy while you get some work done. From making decorations, to coloring pages to games (that my boy can play with his dad), there are plenty of good ideas!

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. People camp out in front of stores to make sure they are first in line for the great deals.

Black Friday has made its way online too. More people than ever are shopping online rather than facing those daunting crowds. In fact, online shopping has become commonplace.

What does this have to do with working from home? It shows that selling on the internet can be a viable option for a home based business. You can sell your own product if you have one or sell through affiliate marketing. The options are endless and the costs can be relatively low depending on how you do it.

My other point is to point out the marketing brilliance of Black Friday. At one point in time, a very smart person recognized the fact that Americans do a lot of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. The term Black Friday was coined and merchants realized the profit potential. They devised every incentive possible to lure shoppers to their store and product.

Sometimes it just takes a little creativity to increase your profit margin. Stay on top of what consumers want and go with it. Who knows, you might be the next person to come up with a brilliant strategy like Black Friday!

Just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from WorkShak!

Kelly posted a home business challenge this morning: A list of what you are thankful for in your home business. I've decided that I'd like to take that challenge, so here's my list:

1. I work as much as I want to. I can turn away jobs that don't pay what I think they should, or  that I don't want to do.

2. My "breaks" include being able to play a board game with my son.

3. I make as much as someone working a full time job in my area, but I only work part time.

4. I get paid for what I enjoy doing -- writing!

5. I get to interview interesting people from around the world.

6. For the most part, I can set up my own flexible schedule.

Today, I am all about Thanksgiving! I am going to try my hardest to refrain from working too much and actually get my house ready for tomorrow's feast.

On Monday, I wrote a working from home list. On this list, I wrote the top five reasons I love working from home. These are the reasons I am thankful for my home business:

1. 1. I am able to be with my children and not have to send them to daycare.
2. 2. I don't HAVE to drive somewhere each day and deal with traffic (this especially applies in bad weather).
3. 3. I don't have to spend money on office appropriate clothes.
4. 4. I can do things MY way.
5. 5. My job does not involve many phone calls. I used to work in real estate settlements and had endless phone calls every day. I LOVE not having to talk on the phone!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am asking you what you are thankful for regarding your home business. Please share! It might help inspire someone that is considering taking the leap into their own home business. Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many ways to make money through writing. You could write a whole book, write articles for magazines or you could blog. Even if you are not a full time writer, you can supplement your income if you find the right opportunities.

Recently I found three different possible ways to make money writing. They are all ads from Craigslist. I wanted to bring them to you attention in case you missed them. I like these writing opportunities because they have a broad range of possible topics for you to write about. You can read about them here.

Yesterday, I took a brief look at how mobility can help you in your home business, especially if you are traveling. One of the most helpful things to know is where you can find a wi-fi hotspot. If you are looking for a place that you can connect to the Internet easily, and do work, you can use a wi-fi directory to locate hotspots near your location.  I like to check it out before I leave home.

One of the things about working from home, especially if you have a home business, is that vacation time isn't always really vacation time. I know this. When I go to New York for two weeks every summer to visit my husband's parents, I still have work to do. But what helps me get through it is mobility.

From a cell phone that lets me check my email to a laptop that is wi-fi enabled, I can usually get my work done from anywhere. And when I'm traveling, one of the best places to get a jump on things is the airport, and even the airplane (even though I can't connect to the Internet while in a plane). Carefully consider you needs when working from home, and determine whether mobility solutions could help you.

I like lists although I rarely write them out. I keep an ongoing list in my head for things I want to keep straight. I should probably put them on paper more often but it usually works for me.

Today, I was thinking about what I like and don't like about working from home. The "like" part of my list far outweighs my "don't like" part of the list.

What I Like About Working From Home:

1. 1. I am able to be with my children and not have to send them to daycare.
2. 2. I don't HAVE to drive somewhere each day and deal with traffic (this especially applies in bad weather).
3. 3. I don't have to spend money on office appropriate clothes.
4. 4. I can do things MY way.
5. 5. My job does not involve many phone calls. I used to work in real estate settlements and had endless phone calls every day. I LOVE not having to talk on the phone!

What I Don't Like About Working From Home:

1. 1. I am obsessed. I get up at 5:00 to start working and find it very hard to be torn away from the computer.
2. 2. I don't get out enough. I belong to a wonderful mom's club but rarely join the playgroups anymore because I feel the NEED to work!
3. 3. Sometimes I wish I had the house to myself to work. My whole reason for working from home was to be with my kids but they can make it difficult to get work done some days. Catch 22?
4. 4. It irks me when my husband uses the computer. Even if I am not working at the time, what if I WANTED to work while he was using the computer? See #1 (obsessed).
5. 5. My neck gets sore due to the casual way I lounge at my computer when I work.

As you might guess, I had to struggle to come up with my #5 on my "Don't Like" list! The truth is, I love working from home and hope it will never change. What are your favorite and not so favorite parts about working from home?

My favorite movie of all time is "It's A Wonderful Life". It starred my favorite actor James Stewart. The character he played was George Bailey who grudgingly took over the family business.

George's business took a turn for the worse due to his flaky Uncle Billy. As most movies do, It's A Wonderful Life had a happy ending. Its message was how you (and your business) can touch so many people's lives. Keep that in mind when running your own home business. Run it in a way that will have a positive effect on everyone you encounter.

I wrote a post yesterday on The Unofficial Flugpo Blog entitled It's A Wonderful Life:

"It seems like the appropriate time of year to talk about my favorite leading man Jimmy Stewart. One of his best known movies "It's A Wonderful Life" is usually aired on television every Thanksgiving Day. I watch that movie each year and know I will never tire of it.

I am only thirty something..... so it might be unusual to be such a big fan of an actor from Hollywood's golden age. I even made a website about him. Here is my story:

My favorite actor of all time is Jimmy Stewart. I stumbled upon
him in a funny way. My husband (at the time he was my boyfriend) opened the world of Jimmy Stewart for me. He loved classic movies and watched them often. We were both teenagers then and watching classic movies is not a typical teenage read the rest........"

When you work at home, you will find that so often your home life intrudes on your home business, and vice versa. And setting goals for your home business, as well as for your home life, can help you. The Unofficial Flugpo Blog points this out:

Life is not always an easy road and often you stray off your chosen path. Setting goals will help you keep focused on where you want to go.

Sit down and create separate goals for your home life and your home business. Then start working toward them.

Click on over to Animal Shak, the newest addition to the Shak family.

If your home business is large enough to employ other people, then you know hard it can be to find good help. This is probably the biggest headache small business owners have. Not only can it be difficult to find the right employee, it is also hard to keep them around.

The key to finding a great employee all starts at the interview. If conducted properly, the interview can give you great insight on your perspective candidate.

Entrepreneur.com has some great advice on how to handle this task. In their article, Hire Away How to bring new hands on deck--and keep them there they share some excellent tips:

"Conducting better interviews: Sigal remembers talking too much as a less seasoned entrepreneur. "You're spending so much time selling that you're not listening," he says.

List the tasks a new hire will be responsible for, and base your questions on the competencies they'll need to fulfill those responsibilities. Sigal uses a "cheat sheet" that outlines vSocial's funding, customers, needs and challenges. This way, "you're not starting from scratch in every interview," he says.

You can also have candidates describe how they would put together a project, report, etc., related to the job; have them" read the rest......

Good luck and remember, you are the boss!

Business blogging is taking off as another tool in the marketing arsenal. This means that it is important for you to try to not only attract blog readers, but to also turn them into fans that keep coming back (and hopefully bring their friends!). Eventually, with blog fans, that can turn into legitimate income for your home business. Skellie at ProBlogger.com offers this insight into blog readers:

We can spend a lot of time with someone but feel very little closeness to them if they make us feel a bit stupid, or boring, or as if our views aren’t important. On the other hand, we can feel quite close to someone very quickly if they give us their undivided attention, entertain us and seem to enjoy what we have to say.

Here are some tips Skellie offers regarding how you can turn your blog readers into fans:

Use a signature to sign your post.

Let your humanity show in your writing.

All content doesn't have to be self-promoting. Write selfless posts as well.

Showcase your blog readers

Create You Squidoo Lens On A Shak Subject And You Could Be Featured On Shakadoo! Once you have built your lens, submit it to the group HERE.

Turning a hobby into a business by katiyana

How to turn a hobby into a business - one knitter's perspective

I learned how to knit when I was 13 on a couple of old watercolor paintbrushes, using scrap yarn, and following the pictures in a how to knit book.  I had decided I wanted a hobby, and knitting was going to be it.  As I got older, I made lots of afghans, sweaters, vests, mittens, and slippers.  It's something that I find very relaxing and fun to do. 

Back in 2002, as I was cleaning out some storage, I found some doll clothes I had made for my Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, and put them up on eBay.  They sold, and one of the buyers told me they loved it, but would have liked it in a different color.  That's when the light bulb went off in my head - that I could knit doll clothes made-to-order so the buyer COULD get the sweater in the color they wanted.  That's how Katiyana's Collectibles expanded into the handmade doll clothes, and later bear clothes, business.  What started off as just cleaning out a closet, has turned into a business that crosses multiple sales venues including eBay, Etsy, Bows-End, as well as 3 websites that I've created.  They are http://www.katiyana.com, http://www.katiyanascollectibles.com, and http://www.katiyanashandmadecollectibles.com.

Would you like to start your own craft business?  You can click here to purchase a comprehensive guide on how to start, run, and operate a craft business.

So - how do you go from turning a hobby into a business?  Let me share how I got there, and hopefully I'll be able to give you some ideas and insight to help you get there too.

What things should you think about before diving into this project?

Can your hobby really become a business?

So how did this work for me?  read the rest.......

To learn everything you ever wanted to know about how to turn your hobby into a business, visit the entire lens by clicking: Turning a hobby into a