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Are You Ready To Get Your Black Belt In Article Marketing?

I know I'm supposed to be on a semi-break, but I HAD to share this with you!

I know so many folks who are trying to market their online businesses and drive traffic to their websites on a shoestring budget (that's always the story, isn't it? :-)), that I know this resource is gonna help TONS of you guys, so I wanted to share it with you as soon as possible.

Drum roll please....It's...

The Ultimate Guide To Article Marketing

It's a free course in Article Marketing over at Squidoo, and it's chocked full of expert advice on everything from writing your first article, to finding publishers, to submitting articles, to...oh, you get the idea--this resource just has everything you could think of if you've ever wanted to drive traffic to your site for free using article marketing.

This skyrocketing Squidoo lens that I'm sharing with you is from article marketing mastermind, Steve Shaw, who also happens to be a client of mine. We just launched this Squidoo lens a couple days ago, and already it's in the Top 20 in the HowTo category and in the Top 100 out of all the half a million lenses on Squidoo!

That is AMAZING, and just shows you how much great info is in this resource and how much folks are eating it up like candy ( and why wouldn't they? ;-))

I have used article marketing to drive traffic to my sites and client's sites for a few years now, and it really does work--we're talking long lasting results. Aside from blogging, article marketing is my favorite way to market my business and my sites.

Here's why folks do article marketing:

• Article Marketing builds links.
• Article Marketing gets the word out about your website, bringing widespread exposure and an increase in targeted traffic.
• Article Marketing can help establish you as an expert in your niche and build customer confidence. 

So, if you or any of your clients want to give Article Marketing a go--go check this out!

This is a top notch resource that will teach you every tiny little thing to do from the beginning to the end. Really, this thing has more info in it than some products that you have to pay for--and this one is free!

So, save your money and check it out! Share it with your friends and clients too--they will definitely want to bookmark this page, and you'll be a hero!

****The Ultimate Guide To Article Marketing ****

Even if you're a newbie right now, you'll be a black belt at this in no time :-)

The DIY Entrepreneur's Motivational Poster

I saw this photo (minus the caption) at Cute Overload and thought it would make a great motivational poster illustrating entrepreneurism.

But how do I make one of those motivational poster thingys?

No problem! Here's something cool that I found out about from Kristin Gorski--there is a DIY motivational poster generator called AutoMotivator. You can use one of their photos and insert your own caption, or you can upload a photo and use that (that's what I did here).

Pretty cool, huh?

So, do you think this poster will be a big seller for me? :-)

I'm taking pre-orders now! (kidding)

BONUS Question: How does this photo illustrate the entrepreneurial spirit?

Sidenote:

Psst! BTW, you may have noticed that this post has been sitting at the top here for a while now--I am on a little break from eSoup, but will be back soon. My writing plate is full--you know how that is! :-)

Do You Have A Cool Home Office Setup? BusinessWeek wants to see it!

Tree House Office 03
Originally uploaded by BlueForest

Breaking news--and there's a deadline on this, people! This is a chance to have your business mentioned on a major mainstream news site, so hop to this--this is big!

BusinessWeek Online wants to create a photo essay of readers' standout home-based offices.

What do they mean by "standout"? Here's what they say:

"We are looking for unique spaces from which you run your home-based business today. Do you work from a tent on the beach, a tree house, or the back of a truck?"

Now, my home office is pretty hum-drum, but I know some of you folks work in some really interesting places--on yachts, from RVs, in trailers on the beach.

Some of you guys are very creative with your office spaces, so please enter this contest so I can live vicariously through you and your fame! (I will still enter cuz there's always a chance, but I am not expecting to win, seeing as though my office is bo-reen.)

The deadline is May 30--so hop on this! And follow BusinessWeek's instructions exactly (full details are here):

Send us a brief description of your workspace along with one digital image no more than 1MB in size to onphoto@businessweek.com by May 30. Be sure to write "Home-based Businesses Special Report photo essay participant" in the subject line of your e-mail. Tell us what you do and what distinguishes your space from a conventional office. Remember: Entrants must be running their own home-based business on a full-time basis, and have been at it for a minimum of one year. We will feature a selection of outstanding work spaces in an upcoming special report in photo-essay format and ask readers to vote on their favorites.

Doh! How I wish I could say that I work from a tree house (maybe next year--fingers crossed!).

And thank you to Gavin Heaton who was sweet enough to let me know about this opportunity.

via

15 Misconceptions Virtual Business Owners Deal with on a Daily Basis

Day 2: Now THIS is what I call telecommuting...
Originally uploaded by DDFic

If LOVE working from home and having a virtual business.

I love the flexible hours, the freedom to choose whom I work with, and the ability to work from the comfy-ness of my own home office. I can take breaks when I want and can actually have lunch out on a sunny patio rather than in a sterile cafeteria or "break room".

I also don't have to worry about having my lunch stolen from a community refrigerator --now that's a plus!

I wouldn't have things any other way, but I've noticed that there are some challenges and misconceptions that many of us virtual business owners run into on a daily basis. It can be annoying, but I can't really blame people who have never worked virtually for being confused about what it's really like.

Recently I bumped into a great post by Glen at LifeDev, which lists 10 misconceptions we self-employed folks deal with all the time. A few of these hit home, and these also got me thinking, "Hey, but what about such and such--that happens all the time too!"

Let's start the countdown! The first 10 of these are from LifeDev, with my commentary. The rest are my additions:

Learning New Habits Stretches Your Mind--Literally!

  Stretch Your Mind 
  Originally uploaded by abv

I used to work in administration for a hospital, and one of my duties was to supervise the volunteers.

My favorite volunteer was Mrs. P, who was 80 years old, full of life and enthusiasm and always had a full schedule of activities going on. I'm telling you--this tiny silver haired lady had a work and social life that was more full than most people half her age!

If she wasn't volunteering at the hospital, she was organizing fund raisers for her favorite causes, taking computer classes, going to the gym 3 times a week to lift weights, playing pinochle or bridge with her friends, and sitting on various boards for the museum or the hospital or whatever.

I was just amazed at her passion and her energy, and when I asked her what her secret was she said, "I always keep trying new things. I deliberately set out to learn new activities and skills, and that's what keeps my mind sharp."

Her words have always stuck with me and made sense--by learning new things we stretch our minds, and stretching our minds increases our ability to think in creative and problem solving ways.

Recently I saw an article in the New York Times that supports this idea. Actually the New York Times article said that basically any type of new habit that we initiate has the ability to positively impact our mental dexterity and creativity: