Work/Life Balance Part I - Love What You Do!

Being a work at home mom and/or dad can be challenging. There are a lot of things that require, even demand, you attention every day and most, if not all, of them are probably high on your priority list. It is easy to get burned out, discouraged and give up - don't!

One of the keys to being a successful work at home parent is to love what you do. You should be passionate about your work at home job or business.

For example, I have several things I am passionate about: family, helping parents work at home so at least one parent can be home full-time with their children, politics and writing. To tee myself up for success I have combined these passions - the way I have implemented them in my business is in a manner that they support each other.

Family is extremely important to me, as is helping parents work from home for the sake of their children. To combine these and have them work to support each other I did several things. The first is I partnered with an INC 500 company whose focus is enhancing people's lives by helping them attain their goals. They are privately held, have no debt, have an A++ rating and have been inducted into the BBB Hall of Fame. They have always been 'green' - long before it was 'en vogue'. Their sales have consistently grown every year regardless of the state of the economy due to their exceptional product line. This makes this a stable and reliable company to partner with and one I can confidently recommend to others.

Another way in which I can help parents work from home to be with their children is through the work I do with Our Milk Money (OMM) as their Director of Communications. Our Milk Money is a national search directory that lists ONLY self-employed parents. OMM is also a community resource dedicated to helping parents who want to stay at home find financial opportunities and support.

OMM's institutional ethos is built around a common goal to provide for our children. In this society, the average family is faced with a challenge to provide for their families with no less than two incomes, and are sacrificing their commitment to raising their own children. As a result, many parents are forced to give the people they work for more of a commitment than they are able to give their children.

OMM envisions a situation in which we are able to reinvent ourselves as parents and entrepreneurs, and where we are able to adequately embrace our family values and support one another by working towards a lasting solution. OMM's rationale is based on a concept that brings the community of self-employed parents together: by purchasing only each other's products and services and by promoting our unity as an organization. OMM wishes to see a vibrant change in the choices we make as consumers, to appreciate the VALUE of what we purchase, and to support the parents who have chosen to earn alternative revenue for their family by working for themselves.

Another passion of mine is writing. I love sharing what I have learned with others - it's always good to be able to learn from others...it can increase our learning curve and productivity! I am passionate about our country...the companies I have partnered with are great examples of the ethics and moral values I share. I combine my love of country and helping others with my love of writing.

An additional way I combine all of these passions is by featuring work at home parents on my Buy By Mom Blog. I also review their wonderful products. I get to write and they get the benefit of free publicity!

All of these are things I love to do. I am passionate about them. Doing what you are passionate about helps me to keep going even in the face of challenges and challenging times. In fact, when you are passionate about what you do, those challenges can even spur you on to further success...they do for me!

If you are stuck in a job or business that you are not loving but need to help support you and your family here's a suggestion: while you working at that job or business out of necessity, continue to search for something that ignites passion in you. Don't give up on that...it may take a while but with persistence you can find it!

Said Albert Schweitzer: "Success is not they key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

Here's to your success!

Easy Ways to Market Your Work from Home Business

Marketing your business is crucial if you want to work from home successfully. In fact, you will get nowhere with out it.

Marketing offline used to be the only way home business owners had to reach their target markets. They had to rely on flyers, business cards, and brochures, then actually hand them to people or leave them in places that people would find them.

These are still great ways to tell people about your business, but they're no longer the only ways. The Internet has given us many more ways to market our businesses, easily and affordably.

It seems like every month you read about another way to reach your target market or market your business. Learning all these techniques can be a challenge, but don’t give up before you start to learn. You may be surprised to learn how easy marketing your business actually is.

Here are a few of the many ways that you can market your business online. Most of these are free or low cost techniques that you can do with ease. If you can’t do these or don’t have the time, you can always outsource your marketing to a Virtual Assistant.

Social Media – This includes sites like Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, LinkedIn.

Article Marketing – Write articles about your area of expertise and submit them to article directories

Blogging – Start a blog and write about your business. You can also comment on other people's blogs.

Podcasting – You can start your own podcast, or be a guest on someone else's.

Newsletters – Get people to sign up for your newsletter by giving away a free ebook or report to subscribers.

Forum Marketing – Join a forum that your target market frequents.

Targeted Traffic Exchange Sites - You can join for free and drive targeted traffic to your site.

When you start to use a new marketing technique, you'll need to continue to use it month after month to see the growth in your business. One thing about online marketing is that growth takes time. You need to place yourself in front of others on a regular basis so they develop a relationship with you and they begin to trust you.

Don’t give up or stop something because you don’t think it's working. It takes time to build a successful business. Do something each day to market your business, and don’t give up!