Mother Inferior

Are You Cut Out to Work from Home?

As you may remember, I recently partnered up with Making Work at Home Work as a blogger.

Introducing The Work at Home Girls Let's face it: a lot of people want (and in some cases need) to set their own hours and work from home. Are you one of those people? What's stopping you? If you're serious about making money from home, you'll do what it takes - including investing in your own learning-either to get your company off to a strong start or to help you move to the next level more quickly. Work at Home Girls is designed to help you.

The Work at Home Girls is the brainchild of Jill Hart and Mary Byers, two successful work at home moms and authors. They've teamed up to offer help, ideas, challenges and mentorship from for women that work at home. Jill and Mary have over 20 years combined experience running a business from home. One is a techie (Jill, founder of Christian Work at Home Moms and author of So You Want to be a Work-at-Home Mom) and the other is a wordsmith (Mary, freelance editor and author of five books, including Making Work at Home Work).They've teamed up to share what they wish mentors had shared with them when they started their businesses over a decade ago. The Work at Home Girls share their Simple Secrets to make your business a SUCCESS -

Traits of Successful Work-at-Home Business Owners By Mary Byers and Jill Hart

While many people like the idea of working in their pajamas and having a minute-commute down the hallway, not everyone is cut out to work from home. Those who do so successfully have the following traits: Passion. It’s essential to love what you do and do what you love when working from home. Passion will keep you going even when the going gets tough, as it does in even the best of jobs. Self-Motivation. It’s important that you’re a self-starter, especially when you are your own boss. There’s no one to motivate you other than yourself when you are self-employed. Resourcefulness. Work -at-home CEOs aren’t just the head of the company, they ARE the company. That means being the janitor, the technology guru, the marketing manager, and the brains behind the operation. Often, this requires skills you don’t possess. But when you’re resourceful, you’ll be able to find the knowledge you need to keep your business moving forward. Confidence. It takes guts to run your own enterprise and confidence to manage it effectively. Though there will be times you experience self-doubt, overall you need to have the confidence that you can, and will, figure things out when you run into obstacles. Like this? Want more? Join the most recent teleseminars! * Making Your Business Work for You: How to Choose, Launch and Run a Winner (available soon as a download) * Realistic Expectations: What You Need to Know About Working from Home Successfully (available soon as a download) * Marketing Your Business Online (October 26) * The Business of Business: Rev Up Your Profit! (November 2) Work at Home Girls give you specifics, examples and personal business experience that you won't find anywhere else! Check them out today!

My Favorite Posts of 2008

As part of Middle Zone Musings Blogapolooza, I created a list of my favorite "Mother Inferior" blog posts of 2008. Hope they make you laugh, think, or just feel less alone. 

January

Took the month off from blogging. J

February

Becoming a More Organized Mom—I interviewed author/speaker Lane Jordan, whose book by that title has some great advice for a domestically-challenged mom like me.

http://tinyurl.com/465sb9

March

Delighting is Difficult—an honest assessment of why delighting is challenging for me.

http://tinyurl.com/4l37uu

April

Getting a Hope Transfusion—a meditation on the biblical character of Sarah, and why God longed to give her much more than just a child.

http://tinyurl.com/3opbdj

May

Boys will be Boys—an anecdote about the absolutely funniest thing my four year-old has ever said. J

http://tinyurl.com/4r26cc

June

Summer Sanity Savers—ideas for moms on saving their sanity (and getting some quiet) during long summer days.

http://tinyurl.com/42mwx3

July

Mom-Olympics—A humorous piece about what the Olympics would be like if moms were able to compete in “typical parenting” events.

http://tinyurl.com/4s7g53

August

Advice from an Essay Writer—I interviewed Cindy La Ferle, a mom, writer and essay aficionado. She gave some great advice, and I felt like I’d found a soul-sister.

http://tinyurl.com/4pq87p

September
Wall Street Woes and Hurricane Heaviness—an audio post, in which I read a modern-day paraphrase of Psalm 23 I wrote just for moms.

http://tinyurl.com/4ped25

October

Stress vs. Rest—My answer to a Middle Zone Musings prompt on “What I’ve Learned” about stress, and why/how God calls me to rest in the midst of challenging circumstances.

http://tinyurl.com/45cdo5

November

My “Mom-i-festo”—a post that explains my goals as a mother, with a few humorous asides. 

http://tinyurl.com/4k7w4s

December                                                       

What Moms Really Want for Christmas—a funny explanation of the gifts a mother would actually like to receive (no more cologne, please!)

http://tinyurl.com/4v2ddw

And if you want to participate in Blogapolooza (isn't that a great title?!) you still have time. Check it out!

Interview with Christian Women Online

I was honored to be interviewed as part of Christian Women Online's "spotlight" feature about bloggers. They are a wonderful online magazine with great content, classy design and superb contributors.

Here it is, if you'd like to read it. And have a great day, and a wonderful Easter.

He is Risen! Hallelujah!

Carnival of Christian Writers

Come visit me (and lots of writer friends) at the Carnival of Christian Writers--I'll bring the cotton candy! :)

http://writermominterrupted.blogspot.com/2006/10/carnival-of-christian-writers-premier.html

Book Marketing and Book Tour Dreams

I'll be blogging over at the We CAN! Market our Books blog on the next few Tuesdays. I'd love for you to stop by--the bloggers there always have some wonderful things to say about creative book promotion from a Christian perspective.

And check this out: Word Harvest Books, a national publisher of inspirational print, kicked off the Book Dream National Tour on October 16, 2006 in search of the next bestselling inspirational author. The Producer of YES FM describes the Tour as "Reality TV without the TV."

The Book Dream Tour is now accepting applications for 100 interview slots for inspirational unpublished books, manuscripts and outlines. The publisher will select 25 writers from the initial interviews for a second interview and coaching session ($250 value). Then the publisher will select 10 writers after the second interview for a professional manuscript review ($250 value). From the 10 manuscript reviews, the publisher will offer one writer a publishing contract. To submit the online application, interested writers can go here.

Don't know anything about the publisher, but it sounds really neat! :)

National Invisible Illness Week

If your life is marked by thyroid disease, fatigue, depression or other "invisible illnesses," you'll want to check out Rest Ministries, especially this week. Why? Well, National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week (NICIAW) is Sept. 11-17. Created in 2001 by Rest Ministries, Inc., a Christian nonprofit organization, NICIAW seeks to make the public, churches, medical professionals and government aware that one-in-three people suffers with a chronic illness that seriously impacts his or her life. This year’s theme is: Choose to thrive, not just survive. Each day there will be at least three (sometimes four) online seminars offered in the NICIAW chat room. Learn more about Lisa Copen and Rest Ministries, Inc. I love this ministry! :)