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The idea for this post came from my own two children, who desperately want a Nintendo DS lite. Much to their disgust, I tend not to buy them anything they want. I told them they needed to earn their own money so they can buy it themselves.

My children’s pocket money still has to come out of the family budget, so I’d still be indirectly paying for their gadgets. I suggested to them that they earn the money by writing. Sneaky, aren’t I? I know most homeschooling mums will say that their children don’t like writing, and mine are no different. However, with the thought of a sparkling new DS in front of them, they approached it with gusto, particularly my 9 year old. So, what did they write?

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As you’d be well aware, a good chunk of my online income comes from writing web content.

I was sitting back with my cuppa this morning, perusing my paypal account, and I discovered that, although the month is only three quarters through, my income from writing has, for the first time since I started taking it seriously,  exceeded double my usual monthly income from my part time “out of the home” job.

Keep in mind that this is writing part time, while I’m looking after my two children and taking them to homeschooling excursions. So, it’s very much a viable option for mums who want to earn from home while they’re caring for a family. I will admit, though, that the housework isn’t always up to date, and I’m often working late at night. I’d rather put up with that than have to find work outside the home.

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When you’re building your website, it’s vital that you have good content, to make it worthwhile for your visitors to stay. Articles, videos and even reviews of useful products will make sure they learn something new when they visit your site.

But, how does your website look? I guess if you’re in a serious type of niche, such as business, a sensible looking site is okay, but it could still be improved by an attractive header. If you’re in a non business niche – weight loss, dog training or any other niche – a good looking header will improve the appearance of your site, and make the visit visually pleasing.

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It’s been a while since I added anything to this blog, I’ve been reading through some opportunities but none have really inspired me and  convinced me that they’ll earn, so I haven’t written about them.

Since I’ve had a bit of success in the freelance writing sphere of late, I thought I’d chat a bit about how to get the most out of sites such as Elance.

Elance, Rentacoder and other such sites are very useful for linking people who need a job done, and people who can do the job for them. Webmasters post details of their job, and you have the opportunity to bid for the work. The webmaster then chooses the winning bidder.

Obviously most of the jobs are computer based/online tasks so they’re ideal for us as stay at home parents. We can do the jobs when the children are asleep, or when they’re doing some quiet reading.

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Outsourcing is a bit of a buzz word at the moment in the internet marketing arena. It can take your business to new heights if used correctly, and free up your time to be with your children.

What outsourcing basically means is that you subcontract some of your work to others, on a “as needs” basis. You don’t have any employees, and you don’t have to pay someone if there’s no work for them to do. It means that you can delegate tasks that  you may not be as skilled at, to those who can do them more efficiently.

What outsourcing benefits are there to you as a work at home mum?

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If you look back to one of my earlier posts on writing web content for dollars HERE, you’ll notice I’ve mentioned you can write private label rights (or PLR) articles for payment.

In a nutshell, PLR articles, reports and ebooks are those which you have the legal right to modify and call your own. Rights do vary, so you need to check what rights come with each package. Generally speaking, you can usually use them as blog posts or website articles, or sell the ebooks and reports.

Why not look at it from the other side, and think about using PLR products yourself that others have written. PLR is very useful indeed when you’re building or maintaining an online business. It can save you doing all your own research and writing, and allow you more time to take care of your children’s needs.

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Squidoo is a great service which allows you to build a one page website for free – no technical skills required. While you can make money from your Squidoo lens, most people use their lens to direct traffic back to their main site, and to give them a high quality back link. This can really improve your search engine rankings.

It’s just as important to do your keyword research for a Squidoo lens as it is for your main website.

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When you’re looking for a place for your family to live, you would  make sure the place you chose was affordable and reliable. The same criteria are important when you choose where you’d like your websites to live.

There are website hosts that will allow you to create a site at no cost, and there are others that charge a monthly or yearly fee.

How do you decide which website host to choose?

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To start an online business, you don’t need to purchase a domain name and web hosting straight away. However, you should plan to do so as soon as you can, for several reasons.

The main reason is that you’ll then be building a website that you have total control over. If you use Blogger, for example, you may lose all your hard work if Blogger decides to pull the plug on your site. This can happen if you inadvertently breach their terms of use.

Secondly, you can choose a name that matches your niche. Use your keyword tools to select a name that ranks high in the search engines, or choose a fun catchy name that sticks in your mind. It’s a good idea to stick to .com or .net domains.

Thirdly, it looks much more professional to have www.yourbusiness.com than www.yourbusiness.blogspot.com

Let’s look at the where and how of registering a domain name.

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When you’re homeschooling, you’re juggling a few more balls than a regular stay at home mom. You are still cook, cleaner, chauffeur and all the other roles a mom plays, but you can also add “teacher” to your job description. 

Can you add “business owner” to that list? Can you really find the time to fit one more thing in? Yes you can.

To get everything done and maintain your sanity, you really need some effective time management techniques.You can come up with your own ideas to fit it all in by talking with your partner, but right now  I’ll share with you some of my favorites.

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