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Mom in Trouble, Can You Help?

What the Hell Happened?

I began researching Marketing Online and ways to make money online from home about two years ago now. Maybe not quite that.

I turned to the internet and it’s infinite vastness to earn an income as a physically handicapped individual. You wouldn’t know I was disabled unless you saw me try to walk any distance or whimper in pain at doing the silliest little things… like opening a car door, brushing my daughter’s hair, or getting the sugar down from the cupboard.

Prior to being afflicted with Fibromyalgia, I have lived the “good” life and did it SINGLE, with children. I had the car, the house, the bi-weekly trips to the coast, shopping sprees at the outlet malls. I was active, fun, caring, and above all else - a lady.

One morning I woke up, literally, to two sprained ankles. It was nearly impossible to walk. The day prior to this morning was normal. I dressed in my sweet dress, pulled up the pantyhose, added my lapel pin to my beautiful pink jacket, slipped on my high heeled shoes and burst out of the house - to drop off my baby at the sitters and make it to work Just in the Nick of time. I parked my car, I ran (in my heels) across the street and into the building. Said all my good mornings and hellos and proceeded to have my normal day at work.

So why? Why did I wake up the next morning with two sprained ankles? No one has been able to answer that for me. After two years of testing, pokes, prods, images, and med soups (that’s different combination of meds) - still no one knew what was wrong with me or how it happened. I was then labeled with Fibromyalgia and became unimportant.

It’s been a little while now and I have become accustomed to the pain as long as I don’t move much. I came online to find a way to survive and get back my dignity and my spirit. I have learned so much! I really have. I’ve been through the ringer, waded through the crap (pardon my language) and now am finally getting to the nitty gritty- to the answers and hopefully the solutions.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret the path I have been on. I learned my most valuable lessons along the way. And, I am sure there is still much to learn. But, just as I begin to implement and go forth with some real action… I get hit. And I mean hit hard.

Today I went to an appointment with the State of Oregon District Attorney for Family Support Division. It was so hard for me to go. I was filled with fear. My middle daughter lives with her father. She is here half the time, but she resides with him. He’s a great Dad and has gone out of his way to be one! He’s a great man. The last thing I want to do is be amiss in my responsibility to my children. I went to the appointment with a heavy heart, not knowing if they would put me in jail.

You see, now that I don’t have my nearly $2600/m job, I can’t pay the $162 I owe and I have gotten over $2000.00 behind in payments. And they want me to come up with $192/m until I am caught up or they will take away my license to drive. If they do that I can’t drive my youngest daughter to and from school. And, if I can’t manage to pay that $192 a month, starting this month, and they have to suspend my license, then comes jail time. - All this because I was struck with a disease I never heard of before.

I wish this was the only dilemma we were facing.

Two days ago, we received an eviction notice, because we couldn’t pay the remaining $260 rent for last month - or even partial rent for this month. We thought a local social agency was going to help. But they came up with a full $50 to help. I should be grateful for that. I just feel a little bitter right now.

If you know me at all, you know I don’t do any type of drugs and I don’t drink any alcohol. I don’t smoke and, really, my only vice is coffee. (Folgers ground coffee) with some creamer.

So, how did I get here? Sometimes I wonder if God backhanded me for no reason. But, since I have been online, branding myself and getting myself out there - among the people, I have begun to see that I almost forgot my motto in life - “There is ALWAYS a way”. So I reminded myself of that, wiped myself off and moved forward. Really, I have come quite a ways and am sitting at the crossroads. Here is where I start to climb and excel guys!!

So, I don’t know what to do, other than to push to the front of the line and take a firm stance and say this:

I have been learning, implementing, networking, and helping for quite a while now and there are no more excuses… here are the things I know how to do and what I am good at doing… PLEASE consider hiring me or pass on to your friends that I am available!!

Online Experience

Put up and design websites

Writing - anything (good writer)

Internet research

Put up and design MySpace, Facebook, Squidoo Lenses

Social bookmarking

Set up, design and use WordPress

Professional Experience

Excel spreadsheets, interactive forms, charts and more

PowerPoint presentations

Access database programming - This is very time consuming and not a good solution for me at this point in time as I need to make money immediately.

I am willing to discuss any legitimate task

 

P.S. This is the hardest post I’ve written… but the words came much easier. 

Visit Wendy Roan at her site:

http://www.powerful-marketing-resources.info/blog

Does BMW Sell Cars To Women?

This is the picture in an ad for used BMWs, the text that goes along with it? YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT THE FIRST.

Does BMW sell cars to women or only to men? Women (and men) let us know what you think about this ad.

Start a Wealth Account

 Have you ever taken the time to think about how you feel about money?  The answers may astound you!

What is always on your mind… thoughts of prosperity or thoughts of all those bills you just can’t pay?

If you’re like most women these days, you’re thoughts are on rising gas prices, rising grocery bills, everything’s rising except your salary.

This type of thinking leads to an endless cycle of worry and feeling you just don’t have any hope for wealth in the future.

So what’s a girl to do?  Start saving money, open a Wealth Account.  “What!”, you say, “I don’t have money to pay my bills and you want me to save?”

Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do.  Even if it’s a few dollars a week, start a Wealth Account (call it this instead of a savings account), you’re developing the habit and you’ll start feeling wealthier.  Make sure not to spend this money however, or you’ll start feeling negative and hopeless again.

If you save $50 a month by the end of the year you’ll have over $600.00.  Jump your savings up to $100 a month and soon you’ll have $1200 in your savings account.  This may not seem like much but I explained that it’s the habit you’re developing.  Soon you’re going to start thinking of ways to add more money each month to your wealth account.  You’ll even begin to notice a change in your spending habits.

You’ll be amazed at how quickly your Wealth Account will grow once you’ve developed this little “habit”.  You’ll even notice that you have a different attitude about money as well, you’ll have thoughts of prosperity and abundance and we know what that means…  the Universe must answer!

So here’s a little hint for you, there is a financial institution that actually wants you to save money and build wealth!  They offer no fees, no service charges, no minimums, higher interest rates and they are FDIC insured, they have too many perks to list!

They also provide helpful  tools and tips such as: checklists, worksheets, calculators, articles and reources to help you “learn” how to save, invest and manage your money, what other bank is doing that for you? 

Check them out, also take the time to watch the video and see what their corporate culture is, this is a very interesting business model that makes sense especially in today’s economy.
ING Direct

Smart, Savvy Shopping!

 With these tips you can “shop till you drop” and we’re not talking about dropping lots of cash!  Every girl loves a bargain, right?  But who has time to drive all over town … and smart chicks know … time is money!

Here are some tips to help you be smart, savvy, shopper!  Here is a list of the best time to get the deals.

• January/February: Winter clothing including shoes, bicycles and linens (aka White Sales)
• March: Ski equipment, snow blowers, European Vacations
• April/May: Televisions and appliances
• June/July: Furniture, Air conditioners, Caribbean Vacations
• August/September: Summer clothing, Cars, Summer toys, Outdoor Furniture, BBQ Grills and equipment,
• October/November: Toys, School Supplies
• December: after the 26th of course, Christmas decorations, cards and wrapping paper, Houses and Cars at the end of the month (dealer’s have quotas)

Where Can a Hip Chick Go for Automotive Advice? Ask Patty!

What’s a girl to do when she has a serious question about her car? Well there’s a great web site just for us chicks that are totally clueless about cars, it’s called Ask Patty.

You can ask Patty just about anything related to the automotive industry; you can get advice on car purchases, financing, maintenance, and other automotive related topics. “Patty” also made new car buying easier for us girls. Shop for your new car at Patty’s network of certified chick-friendly car dealerships throughout the United States. Another smart, savvy woman entrepreneur building a business while helping the girlfriends out!

Prince Charming Isn’t Coming!

 Prince Charming Isn’t Coming. Okay, let’s face it ladies many of you are depending on Prince Charming to come sweeping into your lives and rescue you right? Well, what if I told you he’s not coming? What then? I’ve met many women who have gone through a divorce (or not) and have had to start over financially,like myself, and they just don’t see themselves getting ahead. Many of these smart, talented women think they need to find “Prince Charming”, you know the guy that’s going to come into your life, fall madly in love with you, carry you off to the forest and you’ll live happily ever after and not worry about how to pay the bills ever again!

I find these same women are so desperate to find “their prince” that they are grateful for any man that will look twice at them. Why are you ladies selling yourself short? And what’s wrong with going out and creating the future that you desire and deserve?

Every one of you have the skills, knowledge, and expertise to create the income you deserve. Ladies, you need to have “out of the box” thinking, you need to become an entrepreneur. Check out these statistics:

According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, Women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men. Women make or influence over 80% of all purchases in America. Currently there are over 10.6 million women-owned businesses employing 19.1 million people and generating $2.5 trillion in sales.

How powerful is that? Now if all those women did it, so can you. All of you ladies can go out and create the life and the business that you want. Just think how much more attractive you’ll look to Prince Charming when he does arrive at your door … you, the princess with the six-figure income business living the life of her dreams. Don’t you think the Prince would love that, the smart, savvy Princess that has created an incredible life for herself. And all you Princesses might become a little bit more selective out there, not running into the arms of the first Prince that says “hello”.

Well, I have to tell you about an incredibly smart and financially savvy woman, her name is Barbara Stanny. Barbara’s mission is to motivate women to become financially empowered. Barbara has books and workshops available to teach women how to become financially independent and wealthy.

You must read Barbara’s book Prince Charming Isn’t Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money so that you can create the life of your dreams, live the life you deserve and knock Prince Charming’s socks off when he does arrive!

Are You an Actress?

Are you an actress? You may not think so because surely you’ve never starred in a movie on the big screen; but are you acting like a small business owner?

You may have a name, a product, a service, and even a website, but are you really a woman entrepreneur? There are a few things that you will need to do right from the get go to avoid the confusion between your personal self and your business self.

The first thing you must set up, in order to differentiate between who you are and who you are while running your business is to look at the first thing you may have thought of while considering becoming an entrepreneur–Money! Set up a separate checking account for your business. I hear a lot of complaints about this from people because so many banks want a lot of information before they will set up a business account; and some banks charge high fees for business accounts. “Like you can afford that right now” is what you are probably thinking.

However, the process is quite simple.

Go to the bank of your choice and find the best checking account deal you can find. Open an account under your name, put some money in it, and you’re all set! Use this bank account for your business now. This is important because you should not be “co-mingling” your business and personal finances. Also, this makes it a lot easier to keep track of expenses and see how successful your business is over time. Now, I only suggest doing this if you are just getting started and you are starting a small, home-based business. You should also be a solo-entrepreneur, so you shouldn’t be doing this is you are a corporation or LLC.

You will also need a separate credit card. You may not be able to get a credit card in your company’s name yet, so use one of your personal credit cards and designate that card solely for business expenses. Remember, the key here is to keep your personal and business finances separate from now on; so you have one checking account and one credit card for your home-based business and another of each for you, personally.

Hint: Make sure you are using all the tax strategies you can and making everything legally possible a business tax deduction. You may want to read the following book for a quick overview to get you started–Lower Your Taxes Big Time by Sandy Botkin.

Set up your systems from day one. This may seem like a hassle, but do it now and you will save yourself a lot of time and a major headache in the future. Set up a filing system for your business and running with the theme here, keep your business and personal files separate. Use bookkeeping and accounting software right from the start. Again, this may seem like a hassle, but you are going to be busy once your business takes off, so it is best to set all the systems up right from day one.

Take the time now, you will be glad you did! You can also visit TaxMama for tips on tax savings!

Work Once, Buy Forever

We live in an instant gratification society where people, instead of saving up for the luxuries in their life and managing their finances, they are slaves to their lifestyle.

There are many smart, savvy women that have unlocked the mystery of living the life of their dreams. What they do is build their lifestyles.

Do you love to have a new car every four years?

Start by figuring out what your monthly car expenses are; let’s say it’s $500 per month. $500 per month adds up to $6,000 per year…Yikes! So the key to this concept is to find a way to make this affordable.

You need to save $50,000 and invest that at a 12% annual interest rate. That will give you the $6,000 per year, EVERY year for your car expenses. What’s great about being a woman entrepreneur is that you decide your income, so while saving $50,000 may seem daunting, it is entirely doable.

Say you’ve decided to go out and purchase a car. At the end of four years, you’ve made all the big car payments and now you own the car. Hurray, right? Wrong! You now own a car that is worth a lot less than you paid for it. What’s worse, is that you’ve spent all your money. If you had followed the plan above, you would have paid for the car with your interest and would still have your principal.

Your principal is your “golden goose” and the interest is your “golden egg.” You keep the goose and spend the eggs, forever! As long as your goose lays eggs, you can have a shiny, new car parked in your garage.

Discipline yourself to do this now and you will be happy that you did. Start saving money for your golden goose, invest the savings and put all of your interest towards the golden goose. Keep adding savings and interest to your “Golden Goose” account until you’ve reached your goal.

You may also want to start studying about investments so you can get BIG, golden eggs!

There are two websites to check out to learn all about investments:

• Phil Town
• The Street

Good luck on reaching your goals and getting the luxuries in life that you deserve.

Show Me the Money!

Can you show me the money?

This is a favorite question I like to ask women business owners about their business. However, most of them can’t tell me that their revenue model or financial forecast is.

I know that many women like to think that they are in business to save mankind. Some may feel as if they are in it to spread their good knowledge and humanitarianism, but why would anybody start their own business if they didn’t want to make money? These same people are also the ones not forming nonprofit organizations and always complaining about debt and bills.

While it’s great to have a laundry list of “other” reasons as to why you’ve decided to start your own business, what good does that do if you’re struggling financially? What are the chances your business will survive long if you aren’t making money?

So lets take this time to talk a little about money.

Your revenue model explains exactly “how” you make money. How much you will charge for a product or for a service and how much it costs you to product the product or service.

Your financial forecast is next and this is where the fun part comes in. You get to decide how much money you’re going to make! Predict what you would like your sales to be for the next month, then put a marketing plan into effect making your sales goals a reality.

That’s all there is to it! It’s a very simplified version, but women just starting their own businesses can learn a great deal just by making a few financial strategic plans, which simplify your finances in a nutshell and make it so you have an idea of where you will be financially in just a few, short months.

Grab your calculators, ladies, and get to work. Figure out your revenue model and then your financial forecast. In very little time you just may see those numbers hit six figures!