Got Jott??? Time Management Tool

If you have not signed up for Jott you are missing out on a time saving tool. Have you ever been out and needed to write something down but did not have a pencil or paper? I know it has happened to me and I am sure it has happened to you as well. With Jott you simply call your specified Jott number and leave yourself a voice message. When you check your email later on you will see a written note from Jott in your email! The Jott tool converts your voice into email reminders or text messages. It is so simple. I program my Jott number on speed dial which makes it so easy to use!

This is a great tool to remember grocery lists, doctors appointments, dinner plans, songs you hear on the radio..finally you hear the song you have wanted to add to your I-pod but you never knew the artist. Well, now once the DJ tells you the artist of the song you can call Jott and the text of song and artist will be waiting for you in a message!

What are you waiting for...Get Jott Today!

Instrument Reading...

I want you all to meet one of my friends. His name is Stephen Hopson and he is a motivational speaker with an inspirational story to share. Stephen is a contributing author of three books including best-selling Chicken Soup for the College Soul (July 1999), Heartwarmers (April 2000) and Magical Souvenirs: True Spiritual Adventures from Around the World (March 2002). I would like you all to view Stephen sharing a life changing moment. You can either visit YouTube to view the video and you can read the amazing reviews as well or you can just watch the video here.

Tax Time!

Yes it is tax time again. Didn't I just do this? Boy, a year really comes at you fast! I hate working on my taxes, but it has to be done and it definitely has its' rewards because I have a Home Based Business!

Since I run my business from home and it is an MLM or network marketing company, whichever you prefer, I must keep track of all of my expenses throughout the year and pay taxes on my income at the end of the year as well.

THERE ARE GREAT TAX BENEFITS WORKING FROM HOME! Whether you are involved in MLM, Network Marketing, or some other type of home based business you can benefit from the list below. To start here is a link to the IRS. When doing your taxes, if you are not sure about anything you should be able to find your answers on their site, IRS, or ask your accountant.

If you have been toying with the idea of starting a home based business then stop messing around and see what can become your legitimate tax deductions when you start working from home! If you already have a home business this will help to open your eyes and see why it is so important to keep track of all of your expenses.

1) The initial investment or the start-up costs you pay to become associated with your preferred MLM / network marketing opportunity, or other business venture. Also, your marketing materials. Do you share brochures, flyer's, DVDs, etc. with potential customers?? If so, you can use those expenses as deductions as well.

2) Your computer - If you are using it for your business and contact information then it is part of your business expenses. Computer and Computer supplies -- anything related to your business. If you have several people in your household, it may be a better idea to have one computer for exclusive use in your home based business and one for the rest of the family. Otherwise, keep good records of when you are working on the computer. Keep a log next to your computer so when you are on it you can log your time usage.

3) Your Internet connection - yes you are using your computer to market your product worldwide and to talk to your business partners and to drum up more business.

4) Furniture for your office or home office

5) Your long distance and cell phone service - If you are working a network marketing business or an mlm I know you are on the phone often and with people from all around the globe.

6) A percentage of your rent or mortgage - Do you have a space that you are using as your "home" office? If you are working from home it could be an entire room, a desk in the kitchen, your entire basement or any other place you set up your "stuff" to do business.

7) Gifts to business partners, associates or clients (speak to your accountant to find out how much per person per year is deductible)

8) Your utilities - Heat, AC, electricity. You are using all of these things when you work from home so a percentage of these can be deductions as well.

9) Travel costs to go to seminars and conferences. Deductible travel costs include hotels, airfare, taxis, car rentals, tips, and so on. Make sure to talk to your accountant and find out what and how much to deduct appropriately.

10) Most important - Get a good accountant that knows HOME BASED BUSINESS! Accounting and bookkeeping fees can also be a deduction! (including the portion of your tax return preparation fee that includes your business return can also be tax deductible)

This is just my short list of things that can be deducted if you have a home based business. I hope this list is helpful to you!

Make sure you plan ahead and keep track so that when taxes are due you are not looking around for all your receipts. I keep a file with individual folders labeled January through December. Each time I get a receipt, bill etc... I put it in the appropriate folder. At the end of each month, I enter what I need to into a spreadsheet and at the end of the year I give the spreadsheet to my accountant. I also give him the folders with the receipts so that he can make sure I did not miss anything. My accountant also knows the square footage of my home and he knows the space I have designated as my office. He does some type of percentage to handle the utilities.

As noted above...make sure you have a good accountant that knows how to handle a work from home situation. You want to make sure that can determine which expenses are deductible in your specific circumstances.

Jon Stewart - He is Hosting the Oscars

If you missed Jon Stewart's interview on Larry King February 20th then you missed a hilarious interview. Jon will be hosting the Oscars this weekend.

Here is the featured segment for your viewing pleasure! I love Larry King...maybe some of you do not like him...I do not care...he is one of my favorites!

Segment One

You can view segments 2-7 by visiting the links below:

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGfGHTOJ_sk

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y46kMIemmrg

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MdJOcgzyqU

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8CKh4XM60

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hgxEOattSE

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEbn1rNI6Vg

Fuel Me Up!

Thought I would help out my frequent visitors and maybe save you all some pocket change or even more! Are you looking for the cheapest gas prices in your city...look no further. Just visit FUEL ME UP! today, plug in your zip code and get a list of the cheapest gas prices in your area.

Happy Pumping!!

Guilt, Greed, Network Marketing...

Being in network marketing has its' ups and downs - especially when first getting started. Once you have set goals and built up a team and reached those goals then what? Do any of you ever feel guilty wanting more than you already have from your business (Monetary - Greed)?

I have been with my company now for just over three years - been in the industry for over 10 years. I have done very well for myself. I have worked hard and talked to thousands of people to get an enormous number of people telling me NO before I was able to get to the YES's I have needed to reach my goals. So why is it so hard for me to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor? I do know in part is because I want those I have brought into the business to reach the same level I am with my company. But the more I work with them the more money I make as well and I feel guilty. I often tell people that being in network marketing is like gambling...once you win the slot machine jackpot you stick around the machine a little longer thinking that if I built it this big once I know I can build it even bigger - which can be the case with network marketing if you stick with it - not sure how your odds are with the machine!

Because I want to stick around and help others reach the level I am at does that make me greedy? I mean, the more they make the more I make. I know I am here for their support system and love all the people I work with - many of them feel like family to me. Do any of you feel greedy making money in this industry?

I do donate money to different organizations and that helps to lesson the guilt. I also buy many of the marketing tools for my group to help get them started. I also know I have worked hard to get where I am and many people tell me not to feel bad for those in my downline that are not earning what I am earning. They ask me whether they work as hard as I do and I know the answer. The answer is NO. I do tend to coddle my group but I want to help them. I know I need to step back but if I see an opportunity I always want to share it with my team. I know in my company those in our downline can earn more than the upline - I know this for a fact because I am one of those people earning more than my direct upline.

I would like your comments on why there is guilt earning more than my downline and if you have ever felt this way? I have given them all the tools, training, my time and support that was given to me and I continue to do so everyday. I know I focus and have written down my goals and attended conventions and local meetings, as well as, online webinars. I have followed the path laid out for me...I know many in my downline have not. Even though I know they have not followed what has worked then why do I feel guilty?

Win a Custom Blog Theme Valued At $300!!

Here are the details to win a custom blog design, fully coded and widget ready (Valued at $300) away to one lucky reader!

Thomas Sinfield is in a RSS Feed Competition with a few other bloggers. To help build his subscriber list he is holding a contest. Here are the rules.

you can either:
1) Subscribe to his feed via email OR
2) Write a post on your blog about this contest and the chance to win a custom blog design.

Your post must include links to the contest post and also his new website, Custom Blog Designer. You can also do both!

Contest ends at the end of February 2008.

If you liked my post, please subscribe to my RSS feeds via a reader either as well. Look on the right column.

As you can tell I really need to win this contest. My graphics are very poor for my WAHM University header. I want to jazz up the site and if I win this contest it would make my site look more professional.

The REAL Secret to Success

I thought this was a very enlightening article. I got the rights to publish it on this blog and wanted to share it with all of you. Create A Great Weekend!

The REAL Secret to Success
by Azam Corry
Many people are constantly searching for the secret to online success. Most never find it. Some go broke trying. Yet each year the resources spent in pursuit of the 'holy grail' of Internet marketing continue to grow.

This 'secret' is touted in thousands of places, in thousands of guises. The hype surrounding the subject is almost impenetrable. So dense that even the experienced can succumb. If you are just starting out online, chances are that you too will be sucked in. To save you from wasting much time and energy, if not money too, let me share the truth with you.

The REAL secret to your success is ...YOU!

The most important criteria as to whether you 'make it' or not, is simply YOUR ATTITUDE. All other factors are secondary. It's all about making it happen. And not giving up until it does. You must be determined to succeed; believing that you can, and will do so. By it's very nature, such determination makes light of hard work, and enables you to tap into resources you perhaps hadn't realized you posses. You only fail when you stop trying.

There is no other secret. There is no magic formula.

There will never be a universal method of making money online that will work for everyone. Conversely however, believing in some of the myths propagated is guaranteed to bring nothing but fatigue. Anyone seeking instant rewards, or seriously expecting to make 'easy money' for doing almost nothing, will get nowhere. Without a change of attitude, they are doomed to failure.

Why?

a) Because such things don't exist in the real world. Whilst you might meet people that appear to be getting money for nothing, the reality is that at some time, somewhere, they have labored - and probably very hard - for the fruits they now enjoy.

And

b) Because these people don't want to succeed. Not *really*. Not with all their heart. If they did, nothing else would matter. They would be happy to work hard and make sacrifices. They would feel their goal *worth* devoting all of their energy to, instead of always seeking a 'comfortable' way.

People often say things like "I'd do anything to be able to live like him (or her)," in reference to somebody successful. In truth, most who make such claims aren't prepared to do much at all. They'd love to eat the cake, but don't like the idea of going into the kitchen and baking it.

Successful people are driven by the desire for positive results. They focus on their goals, not the process of attaining them. Failures are willing to accept poor or mediocre results, so long as what they do to achieve them is easy or enjoyable.

Successful men and women invest in their future, rather than wasting precious time looking for shortcuts or a free ride. And by 'invest' I don't necessarily mean money. Having more cash to spend won't in itself bring you success. The recent dot com failures are testament to that. Most spent millions before folding.

Starting out with little money simply means you have to work harder, and for longer, before you see noticeable results. Think of it like savings at the bank: the smaller the initial deposit, the slower it's growth will be. But it still grows.

Nor is your success dependent on knowledge. It's undeniable that the more relevant knowledge you have, the faster your progress should be. However, knowledge must be accompanied with the right attitude to be of real use. And if you have that, you can attain the same success starting from ground zero, learning as you go.

Being armed with the right knowledge is like travelling on the highway. You have the opportunity to put your foot down and proceed directly to your destination in the shortest time. Not possessing that knowledge forces you to take the small and winding back roads. Progress is slower, and you might make a wrong turn or two along the way. However, as long as you focus on your goal and keep moving, you will still reach your objective. And wiser too.

The only formula for success online or anywhere else is determination, hard work and persistence. No matter how many obstacles, setbacks, or downright failures you may face along the way. Realize that only a minority succeed, and that therefore the majority must be doing something wrong. Don't follow them.

To succeed is to be different. Do the things failures don't like to do, and success will come to you.

© 2001 Azam Corry "Do it Better. Do it Faster. Do it Right!"
Online since 1998, Azam Corry Helps Newbies Develop a Winning Web Marketing Strategy with Great Free Guides, Tools and Resources.Also Discover Resale Rights eBooks & Resell Kits That Make Money Fast!==> Special from Azam:Subscribe now to my Biz Bits Marketing eZine & get the Net's mostComprehensive ecourse PLUS real-value ebooks completely FREE!

Before 8/7c February 14 - Free Suze Orman E-Book

Download your free copy of Suze Orman's book Women & Money. in English before 8/7c the evening of February 14 Follow this Link to Oprah's site to download your copy...Hurry time is running out! LINK
The book is also available in Spanish!

Blogger or WordPress.org

I am in the process of deciding whether to migrate my Blogger blog to WordPress.Org. I am getting so many different opinions as to why I should or should not change my blogging platform. I wish there was an easy answer. Many people tell me that if I do change to WordPress.org then I will not be picked up in the ranks as high. But then people tell me that if I stick to Blogger then one day I can turn on my computer and my blog will be gone!

I am also thinking of keeping this blog as a mirror blog to a WordPress.org blog. I just had to ramble a bit about what I have been thinking...

"You Can Do Anything You Want...

as long as you make up your mind you can do it!" Those words were spoken by Dick Hoyt.

If you want to be inspired, and see the meaning of dedication and commitment, the video below will hopefully change the way you look at obstacles.

A bit of history about Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick was born with the umbilical cord coiled around his neck which cut off oxygen to his brain. Because of this circumstance, Rick has to face the world much differently than most of the people in the world.

When Rick got older he saw an event to benefit a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in the five mile benefit run. Dick was not a long distance runner but had the commitment to his son and his family to help fulfill their dreams. They did do the race together, finished last but they completed what they started - overcoming many obstacles to make this happen. You will see how they run races in the video below.

Rick said, "The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life."

Here is the list of events Team Hoyt has competed in:

Racing History 1979 - January 31, 2008 - updated January 31, 2008
224 Triathlons, 6 Ironman distances, 5 Half Ironman, 20 Duathlons
65 Marathons, 25 Boston Marathons, 8 18.6 Milers , 81 Half Marathons
1 20K, 35 10 Milers, 29 Falmouth 7.1 milers, 1 Falmouth in the Fall Event, 8 15K, 208 10K, 147 5 Milers, 4 8K, 17 4 Milers, 101 5K, 7 20 Milers, 2 11K, 1 7K
Total 958 events

Personal Bests
2:40:47 Marathon, 56:21 15K, 1:21:12 Half Marathon, 40:27 7.1 Miler,
13:43:37 Ironman Triathlon, 35:48 10K, 2:01:54 18.6 miler, 27:17 5 miler, 59:01 10 miler, 17:40 5K, 2:10:45 20 miler

I first saw this video at a convention with FreeLife. I do not think there was a dry eye in the entire room. I hope this inspires you as much as it has inspired me. This family shows the world with some commitment and dedication you can do anything you want!

123 Meme Game

The 123 Rules:
1. Pick up the book nearest you with at least 123 pages. (No cheating!)
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Count the first five sentences.
4. Post the next three sentences in the comments section of this blog and on your site.
5. Tag five other bloggers.
Copy and paste this entire post from our site to your site with your addition

Since I, Shelley (http://www.wahmuniversity.blogspot.com/), have now been tagged by Grant here is my addition:

And we get responses back...hunches...like e-mails in our intuition inbox. If we act on these hunches, things usually turn out for the better." "Mmm," Jeremy said. (From The One Minute Millionaire) Shelley

This is who I am tagging.
SlyGuy - http://slyvisions.com/
Gerri - http://whereisthatmoney.blogspot.com/
Maria P - http://blogging-dog.blogspot.com/
Amazing Mr Nerd - http://www.surefireseoblog.com/
Jeremy Neal - http://www.struckintraffic.blogspot.com/

Top Keyword and Topic Search Sites List

I know many of you are always looking for ways to drive traffic to your websites and blogs. I have compiled a list of websites where you can see the top searched keywords and topics. I have listed a brief summery with each link. This should help you choose words wisely if you want your site to be picked up by the web crawlers, bots, search engines...whatever term you use. This is a short list of the sites I use most for my research.

1) Alexa - This is one of my favorite statistical search sites. You can view most searched sites by country, language and subject. They have a top 500 global and a Movers and Shakers list that ranks traffic by the change in the amount of visitors that are using each site.

2) Yahoo Buzz - You can view the top searches for anything from actors, movies, music, sports, TV, video games, top overall and there is even a list of the decliners.

3) Ask.com - This is a very simple search that lists the top searched items on Ask.com This is not in real-time like some of the other searches.

4) Lycos 50 - This is a simple top 50 link. When you visit the Lycos Bio page you can view lots of other fun top searched items like; top searches for the past 100 weeks and top ranks since 1999!

5) Snopes.com - This is a great site to view the top 25 Urban Legends. This site compiles their ranks by the number of times these topics are accessed from emails, searches and media coverage. (I am sure you have been fooled before...check it out!)

6) Google Trends - Google trends is a little different top search site. You actually get to compare different trends in the world. You place your key terms in the search box and then a list is generated that tells you how often the trend has been searched over a certain amount of time. Your search is broken out into regions, cities and languages. Another great feature is to compare terms. You just place commas between what you are comparing (Example: Madonna, Britney...who do you think has the most votes on that one:)) Your result comes up in a graph and there are links to featured stories related to the query you chose.

7) Google Zeitgeist - This is a great search that combines the trends, patterns and a link to discover why some search words are so high for the day.

Do You Have The Slight Edge?

Some of you might not know who Art Jonak is but he is one "Superstar" network marketer ...if you don't know who he is do a search on Google. He is not part of my team with FreeLife or even with my company but we are friends in this vast industry. We all are here to help each other because we know network marketing is the key to our freedom (whatever freedom means to you).

Art sent me a book recently titled, The Slight Edge, Secret To A Successful Life, by Jeff Olson. I will be honest there is nothing new in this book to learn. It is just using what you already know and taking action - Jeff states the same thing.

I wanted to thank Art for sending me this book and I wanted all my readers to take the time to pick up a copy for yourself. It is a worthwhile read if you are in any type of situation where self motivation is your key to your WHY.

Lost...Oceanic Six...The Funeral

I wonder if we will find out in this weeks episode who is part of the Oceanic Six that got off the Island. We know Jack, Kate, Hurley and Jin (because in the episode flashing in the future we saw Jin buying a stuffed animal - I would figure it would be for his child...maybe not???) I also think Sun and Sayid...but who knows. All we know 100% is Jack, Kate and Hurley since we saw them last week in "the real world." Lost is such a nail biter.

Jacob's house just creeps me out. Maybe Jacob is real and the house is somehow booby - trapped with cameras and people viewing the visitors. When visitors come to the house the people who set up the house watch and manipulate things in the house with some sort of wireless remotes.

Who was in the coffin???? Could it be Ben? He had no family that knew of him since he lived on the island since birth. Since no one came to the funeral I would assume it would be him. If no one attended the funeral, my question would be who made the funeral arrangements??

Could Charlie still be alive? If the island cures people then maybe his body could have washed ashore and resurrected him..who knows? Maybe he was able to get the scuba gear from patchman once patchman was blown up.

I am so LOST!

Super Bowl Commercial

I had to post one of my favorites. Being a mother of 3 kids means that I have a few back seat drivers. Every time there is a squirrel on the road and it looks as if I am going to hit it...the squirrel seems to get out of the way. Makes me happy that I did not add to the road kill numbers! My kids always ask me, "Mom did you hit it? Did it get out of the way?" So when I saw this commercial I laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes and my belly ached! Here is the link to the commercial...I hope you find it as entertaining as I did! It is titled "SCREAM" Since I am still pretty new at this blog thing I have to put a link for your viewing pleasure. Please view the commercial by clicking on this link.

I Took A Deep Breath And Jumped...

As I went for my morning run...on my treadmill...I happened upon the movie Flashdance on the TV. It seemed to make my run go smoother than planned, actually very fast. The reason it went so fast was that I got caught up in the moment. The movie was about dreams and making them become a reality. Watching this movie many, many years ago I could not relate it to my life and to business but now that I am older I am able to understand the meaning.

Many people are very scared of the thought of network marketing, direct sales, mlm...whatever term you want to use. People get cold feet thinking that they will be thrown into this business without getting support. I am not going in to the story of how a ended up with FreeLife..that will be a topic for another day...but I knew if I wanted to make this happen and make my dreams become a reality I would have to take a deep breath and jump right into the business. I could not let anyone convince me or persuade me otherwise. I just had to get busy and not let those dream stealers take away what was going to become my reality.

Many people get cold feet because they do not want others to think of them as one of those people soliciting for a ponzi scam or pyramid thingy. For those that lack the knowledge of what this industry is about you need to just ignore them for now...trust me when you get active and start earning, with your business, they will come back to you. Most likely, those people are the ones working for someone else and are told what to do and how much they are worth. They are the ones that need to take a good hard look in the mirror and stop trying to knock you down.

When you are looking for a company to join make sure you are passionate about the products you will soon be sharing with others. Your business should work as easily as you being able to slap a peanut butter and jelly sandwich together (my favorite binge food). If you are confident and love the product it will be conveyed through your voice and body language. Others around you will be aware and will ask you what is happening. That is the trigger to tell them about your new "thing". Of course, there are other aspects like support from a good upline, compensation plan and a solid company with good management to consider before jumping into a new business.

Just remember to never give up your dreams or let others allow you to put what you want on the back burner...you can take small steps if that is all time permits. I chose FreeLife because it allows me the opportunity to not only support my family (my WHY..me and my WHY in the pic) with good nutrition but I also have the opportunity to help others feel better physically and in turn I feel better emotionally because I have made a difference in this world. I also get to help others reach whatever monetary goals they have to answer their WHY.

If you give up your dreams than what is life all about...

Commitment and Hard Work

When you read these words to yourself, Commitment and Hard Work, what do they mean? Do they translate to starting a business and trying it out for a few weeks, maybe a few months and if it does not work out in that short period of time it means giving up? Maybe those words mean you are going to take action for a few years and accomplish whatever it is you set out to do by reaching specific goals? Did anyone ever ask you to write down your WHY when you first started your home based business? Did you ever sit back and really let it sink it what was going to help you get your WHY?

Your network marketing, home based business can be compared to a swimmer on a swim team. When you are young your parents put you on a team to hopefully help you build confidence and build strong freindship bonds. Swimmers are very dedicated. They have very long days. Once you are in high school swimmers usually have practice in the morning, before school, and then another practice after school. Remember, once practice ends the swimmer still needs to come home, eat and do homework for the next day. For swimmers their season seems to never end. Yes, there is a swim season for high school but during the summer they must keep up their hard work so that their time will not slow. Swimmers are one of the most committed athletes in the world. Hard work and commitment to themselves and their team is quite an accomplishment as a human being. Not many people in society can honestly say they can commit so much hard work, energy and time to such an amazing sport.

Have you ever watched how graceful a swimmer can be...watching a swimmer cut through the water with such grace is such a beautiful sight to see. How about swimming the Butterfly stroke anyone? A small percentage of the world can master that stroke. Guess what makes these swimmers look so graceful...HARD WORK and COMMITMENT!

So next time you are thinking about whether your mlm, network marketing or any other home business is right for you...ask yourself whether you know your WHY and if you do can you commit yourself to that company for a few years, not just months? If not, you need to find a new company...If you can then go for it and those around you will watch you work as gracefully as a swimmer and you will glide right by everyone because you have made the commitment. Those that want to can jump in the water with you. You will build strong bonds with "your team" and you can work together as a team to reach your goals!

Copyright Protection For Blogs

This is for all of you bloggers that have spent many creative, working hours composing fresh content to add to your blog. I found a great site to help you search out those that are stealing and using your blog content without your permission. The site also contains many links to direct you to your copyright Q & A's.

The site is Copyscape

To get started just visit Copyscape, type in your URL to your blog and see those that are using your content. You can also add a button to your site so that your visitors will know your site is being monitored and protected from blog stealers.