Best 6 Tools for Working From Home

by Shannon on February 3, 2012

Any kind of job or business requires tools to help you complete your work. Working from home is no exception to that. Over the years I have discovered a number of tools that are a must have for my business. I would love to share them with you.

Here are my best 6 tools for working from home:

  1. WunderlistWunderlist. I have struggled for some time trying to find just the right to do list that works across my computer and my smartphone. Plus find one that I will actually use. I have a couple installed on my phone right now and this is definitely my favorite. I also love very much that it is free. And you can share your task list with your spouse or an employee/contractor if needed. I use this every day.
  2. WordpressWordPress. Back in the day I used to code websites from scratch and with the help of Frontpage. My how things have changed. Now every single site I build is on the WordPress platform. While it does have its quirks, I love the simplicity of use in the backend and the ability to customize it with various plugins and custom themes like Thesis. And so many people are using it, that if there is something I don’t know how to do with it, I just Google it and there is most likely a tutorial.
  3. Internet Connection. It is hard to remember back but there was a time when there wasn’t the internet. I remember computer modems in which you had to place a phone handset into. And I’m not really that old. Anyway having the internet available all the time has really been a key in allowing people to work from home. Whether I am at home using the wireless internet or on the road and using mobile broadband, allows me to work when I want to.
  4. Backup BuddyBackup Buddy. I used to use a free plugin to send a backup of my WordPress database to my email once a week, but I always worried about it being unreliable. Then it stopped working on one of my key sites. I had heard so many good things about this plugin but I was hesitant to pay for it when there was something free. Free is not so good when it doesn’t work though. I love this plugin because I can set it up to do an automatic backup of either the whole site or just the database and have it sent to Amazon S3, Dropbox, my email, FTP, or Rackspace Cloudfiles.
  5. NamecheapNamecheap. I used to register all of my domains with GoDaddy, but they just slowly chipped away at me until I was fed up. Now this is my domain registrar of choice. They really do cost less plus they have a whole lot less upsells during the checkout process. That’s a win in my book.
  6. HostgatorHostgator. All of my websites need someplace to call home and this is the webhost for me. I love that they have an online chat feature for support issues, as well as phone and email support. While they are not perfect, the pros have outweighed the cons so far.

I would love to know what your must have tools are. Let me know in the comments below!

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Hey Ladies, step away from the computer for a bit. Grab a cup of hot coffee, a book and take a moment for yourself. This post is for the men in your lives.

Guys Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away (Tuesday February 14) and even if we say we don’t want anything, trust me, we do. So I’ve put together a little Valentine’s Gift Guide for the work at home Mom in your life to make shopping simple.

  • Flower Pen - RoseFlowers are great, but a Rose Flower Pen is a whole lot more useful. I can never have too many pens actually and this flower pen would be a daily reminder of your love. At only $1.99 a dozen wouldn’t break the bank.
  • Heart Shaped Valentine's Day Cookies - Gourmet Sugar CookiesHeart Shaped Cookies. These smiley faced cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Plus I won’t want to eat all of them so the whole family can enjoy.
  • I Love You Chocolate Covered StrawberriesChocolate Covered Strawberries. I love just about chocolate anything (except bacon and bug varieties, ewww) and these are no exception. Plus they are made with real chocolate.
  • Round Aquamarine, Solitaire, Bezel Set Ring  in Sterling SilverJewelry! Hands down you can’t go wrong with jewelry. I love this Aquamarine Sterling Silver ring for a couple of reasons. One it is my birthstone. It is also customizable with your choice of gems and metals. Plus it is a stackable ring so you could get one with the birthstone for each of your children and it makes a Mother’s Ring. Awwww.
  • Bento Box Green Tea CollectionTea. I am a huge fan of loose leaf tea and find great enjoyment out of my daily cup (or two or more) of tea. This Bento Box of Green Tea is not only beautiful, it is practical too. Work at home moms appreciate practical. They also offer many other tea gifts to choose from too.
  • Clean the House. I think most work at home moms would agree that we work two full time jobs. One is our work at home job and the other is taking care of our family and household. Having someone else clean the house (or cook the food, take care of the kids for the day, etc.) would be a very welcome present.
  • Personalized Roses are Red Picture FramePersonalized Picture Frame. It is always nice to decorate my work space with some pictures of my family and this personalized frame is perfect and thoughtful.
  • Desktop Water Fountain - PagodaDesktop Water Fountain. This would be perfect to bring some tranquility to my hectic days. The soothing sound of water and the soft light would be a nice addition to my desk.

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Should I Be Paying For Search Engine Submission?

by Shannon on January 19, 2012

Last week I received a letter in my post office box and quickly realized it was junk. I almost tossed it away. Then I realized I that I could do one better and turn this into a teaching opportunity. It was for a company wanting to submit my website to the search engines. And I know from talking to some people they ask: Should I be paying for search engine submission?

The letter and envelope looked official enough with a logo. It referenced a domain that I had recently registered. It says under description of services:

ANNUAL WEBSITE SEARCH ENGINE LISTINGS FROM JAN 12, 2012 THRU JAN 12, 2013 TOTAL $85.00

Hmm, okay. So what do you get for that $85?

SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES DOMAIN NAME SUBMISSION TO 20 ESTABLISHED SEARCH ENGINES UP TO EIGHT KEYWORD/PHRASE LISTINGS MONTHLY SEARCH ENGINE POSITION AND RANKING REPORTS.

This “service” only takes checks and there is no where on the order form to list the eight keywords or phrases, so I guess the choice is up to them. You are supposed to enter an email so that you can receive a report from them.

I did visit their website in the name of research and found out that some of the search engines that they work with are Google, AOL, ExactSeek, Cipinet, Netscape Search, Scrub the Web and more.

I sure hope alarm bells are not going off in your mind.

Never ever pay to have your website submitted to the search engines. It is not necessary and a waste of money. Please if you get a letter like this (or email or tweet, etc) then just throw it away.

Instead do some simple things instead. Create an xml sitemap for your website with the help of the Google XML Sitemap plugin if you are running WordPress. Make sure your site is included in Google Webmaster Tools and that you submit your sitemap. Write some really great guest posts on other blogs. All of these ideas are free. The search engines will find your website and it will just cost you time.

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I’ve had a few days to recover from Affiliate Summit West 2012 and have been thinking about what I learned this time around. I know for me, that my experience keeps getting better each time I go. I learn a little bit more each time about what I want to get out of the experience. Here are ten things that I learned at Affiliate Summit West 2012:
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Affiliate Summit West 2012 Day 3 Recap

by Shannon on January 14, 2012

Day 3 of Affiliate Summit West began nice and early with the Early Morning Whiteboarding session with Eric Nagel. It was a bit subdued after a late night of karaoke and a bit of a delay in getting coffee, but it was very informative. It was well worth getting up early for.

Whiteboarding with Eric Nagel

Whiteboarding with Eric Nagel

After that it was time for a breakfast. I really enjoy the meals at Affiliate Summit (not so much for the quality of the food) but the chance to get to know some new people and reconnect with old friends. Plus you don’t have to miss out on the conference by trekking off to a restaurant somewhere else.

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