100 Phone Calls in 2 Days

If you own a business, how would you like to get an additional 100 phone calls - from prospective customers - in two days?

This is the power of local press coverage.

A few years ago, I obtained an interview with one of the local news stations. The spot ran for a grand total of about three minutes. I was asked a few questions, had some videos taken, and then the crew left my home and told me when the interview was going to run.

That three minutes of air time and ended up generating well over 100 inquiries about my business.

I thought it was a fluke.

Fast forward another year or two, and I had moved to a new city. I ended up getting another interview with a different local news station ( remember, I was in a new city at this point).

That interview was in the studio, and ended up generating around 75 inquiries for about a 90-second to 2 minute spot.

It was then that I truly realized how powerful local media was.

There are so many ways to generate interest with your business. Finding something newsworthy for your local media to cover is just one way, but it is a very powerful way. There is a certain credibility that comes from being on your local news channel or in your local newspaper.

Even just having a press release submitted to local and national news websites can be a tremendous boost to your business. If you couple a press release with a public relations campaign, it can be a phenomenal boost to any business.

Press releases are not just for big businesses. Even small businesses and home-based businesses can benefit.

For information about how you can benefit from a press release or a PR campaign, contact me today. (My contact information is in the right sidebar.)

Now is the perfect time to start your own home business

In these economic times, there are many women who are looking for a way to make extra money from home. Some women are facing the loss of their spouse's job. They might be losing their own job.

Perhaps hours have been cut or pay has been decreased.Even some women who are not sure whether or not their spouse is going to lose his job still feel like it is a possibility (and rightly so). For those women, they are looking for a way to "make hay while the sun shines" and start making some money from home in case their husband loses his job. They want to prepare while they still have a regular income coming in.

I know that my opinion may not be the popular one, but I truly feel that one spouse should be at home for the kids. If one parent is the breadwinner and works full time, then I truly believe the best situation for the kids would be that the other parent stays home with them. I don't think that anything is wrong with the second parent working part time outside of the home, but having two parents working full time outside of the home is very stressful and counterproductive.

I have seen far too many moms who have worked full-time jobs and then had to come home and do all of the things that moms normally do in the house. It simply makes things very difficult. It is almost like having two full-time jobs. Starting a business from home can be an excellent way for a parent to contribute to the family budget without having the stress of being away for 40 hours or more per week.

Many party plan businesses average anywhere from $35-$100 per hour. There are other businesses that can be worked strictly from home and can bring in a substantial amount to the family budget.

Party plan businesses can have an excellent hourly income, but they do normally require that you spend some time away from home. Most successful party plan business women work only two or three evenings per week outside of the home. For a mom with small children, this can actually be a welcome break. It allows for you to set your own schedule and only be outside of the house 10 or 15 hours a week, while still being at home with the kids most of the time.

Other home businesses can usually be worked entirely from home without needing to go outside of the house for appointments. Special care needs to be given to make sure that the business is legitimate and will also provide a reliable income.There are numerous options available for working from home.

I encourage you to contact me today and discuss the options available for working from home.

You can find my contact info in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Don't wait until you have a crisis to start a home business. Start one today.

Helping kids pay for their own college tuition

With all of the talk on the news about kids not being able to get loans for college tuition, I am very thankful for what Hubby and I have decided to do. I want to share this plan with you, because I think it can help other parents make future plans.

We have four kids - ages 15, 12, 10 and 4. We are going to have kids in college in about 4 years. We will probably have no more than 2 in college at any one time, but that is not certain - we might have 3 in college at one point. Things happen - one might take a year off. One might not do well for a year - who knows? The point is that, realistically, we might have 3 in college at the same time.

We are paying off our debt so that we will be debt-free long before we have kids in college.

However, we are NOT planning on paying for our kids to go to college.I have set the kids up with ways to:

--learn how to make money.
--make money over time
--build up their income

I have set up blogs for the kids - they update them and run them (with my supervision) and they learn how blogging works - and how money works! There are ads and affiliate programs on there. (They are not old enough to participate directly yet, but I have my account and give them their share.)

Right now, they are almost to the point where they can earn all of their spending money. (Hey, 50 bucks is a fortune for a 10 year old!)

In the future, as their needs grow, their income will grow, too. They can and will be responsible for all of their clothing and other needs (once they earn that much).

They will be putting money aside for college.

They can have regular money coming in while they are in school - no broke college students! No phoning home for money! LOL

And I will have the peace of mind that they are self-sufficient.

That is the best part of all.

What is wealth?

Everyone has a different idea about what true wealth is. To some, they want thousands. To others, only millions will do. Still others think of wealth in terms of having more money than Bill Gates.

For this post, however, I will be using the general definition given by Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame):

His measure of wealth (and I am paraphrasing here) is how long you can live at your current comfort level if you stopped working today and had zero money coming in.

For most people, that would indicate how much they have in savings. For example, if you have $10,000 in savings and your bills total $2000 per month, you have 5 months of wealth.

The idea of infinite wealth, therefore, can mean very different dollar amounts to different people, depending on their lifestyle and/or debts, but it is a very measurable amount.

Let's say you require $3,000 a month to maintain your current lifestyle. If you had $3,000 a month in passive income coming in, you are according to this definition you are infinitely wealthy. You would never need to work a job again!

How can you attain this income? There are many ways, actually. Real Estate is one way. Investments, etc. are also ways to do this. The way I (and others) have chosen to create wealth is through working a business from home.

I would love to share what I do with you. Let's discuss your financial future!

I can be reached at shay (dot) rockhold (at) gmail (dot) com.

Make a decision today

Your current financial situation is the result of previous decisions you have made.

If you want to change your financial future, you have to make a decision today to change your financial picture in the future.

Contact me today and let's talk about your financial future.

What is the true cost of working outside of the home?

Many women work outside of the home because they feel it is their only option - single moms in particular feel the pressure to work outside of the home, since they are often the only source of income for their family.

I used to be a single mom. For six years, I supported myself and my two children by working from home.

On paper, I could have (perhaps) made more money by working a job outside of the home, but the difference would have been in how much I kept.

Consider the costs involved with working outside of the home:

1. Child care - This expense alone can eat up half of your paycheck.
2. Gas - No doubt that this is a hefty expense, too.
3. Car insurance - Did you know that your insurance can go down if you don't commute to work? Mine did.
4. Clothing - Pantyhose alone cost me a fortune. (I can't seem to wear hose for more than 2 minutes without running them. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!) Add to that all of the dressy clothes you need for office work, and it is a hefty sum.
5. Lunches, coffee, etc. - A few dollars here and there add up!

And let's not forget another cost - time. Time to commute. Time the kids stay in daycare. Time you can never get back.

Are you ready to get your life back? Contact me today at shay.rockhold@gmail.com and let's talk about your future.

"Do you REALLY work from home?"

I had this question recently.

The answer is, "Yes, I really do work from home."

No parties or meetings. I do everything online and over the phone.

Want more info? Contact me at shay.rockhold@gmail.com.

-----Shay :o)