This book can change you, if you let it.

Somehow life shifted around and the puzzle begins to fall into place. How can you be in the flow? You are in the flow. No resistance. You open to the flow. You open to opportunities. Yo accept that good things might show up, can show up, will show up. In this light others want to step into your space. Why not? It is a good space. Being in the light of good things showing up. This begets more good things to show up. It’s a snowball, the flow.

I am committed to feeling inspired about my life, my children, my world, and the gifts that I bring to others.

And yet, some days I am processing too much stress or managing too many pieces of information. Some days my clients are having a bad day.

For me, the source of intensity, inspiration, joy, and belief in all is well is going inside. Meditation. Believing in a better way. Knowledge that even in dark moments, brightness exists. Light exists. Love exists.

All of us are connected. I believe in the very good in each person. I look for that. Seek it. And when the joy wakes up and finds others who see the joy — new bridges are built, new breakthroughs occur, and this inspires me.

Our economic culture is at a crossroads. There is a wide open space for entrepreneurs to come in and solve problems and give people new ways of being, acting, living, surviving and thriving.

Creativity is at a peak. Old systems are crashing. People open to new ways of operating will stand up and live with more abundance than ever before.

Resistance to change is causing so much pain as people grapple with confusion around why things just are not feeling right, and why things are not going right, and what to do about job changes, and how to move forward as an entire new world is built.

In the midst of the chaos there is a peace and a kindness that stems from connection to source. I connect again, and release the ties to old ways.

Ahhhhhhh.

1. Focus on your annual and quarterly income requirements. This will help you know if an opportunity will work for you.

2. Get clear on how much time you can commit to your business efforts. Take into account a completely different level of productivity than your life before kids. For a parent of school-age children, for instance, there will likely be drops in work schedules in summer and December. For parents of young children, count about a week every month for days when unexpected stuff just happens. This may show up as one or two days per week or a week here and there. A child gets sick, your spouse can’t help on a Saturday as planned, that kind of thing.

3.Get to know how much risk you are willing to take. Are you willing to be entrepreneurial? Start a whole new business or a line of them? Play with adwords and adsense on google to generate income streams? Or would you feel safer with data entry? Without judgment, stop for a moment and just consider what is right for you. I like some risk with measurable upside and I like commission-based work. Some people feel SO much better with hourly work, reliable projects, and assignments that are quite tangible and pay a specific amount.

4. Make sure you’re going to like what you’re doing. Identify your skillset. What do you want to contribute? If you forget about this and just “do something” you may dislike what you took on. I believe we have a natural tuning fork inside of us that resonates when things feel good, and tells us (if we listen) when things feel bad or off.

5. Avoid opportunities to pay to be given opportunities. There are exceptions, but in general, you can find data entry jobs and work from home jobs if you scroll and screen and look carefully. The exception would be paying for new tools to help you get things done, like cool new phones that do everything but stand on their toes and dance (and allow you to work from wherever you are whenever you want); or information products that help you learn something valuable.

Work from Home Success Strategy #1: Create a vision for the business or job, then create quarterly, monthly and daily plans for action in alignment with the vision.

Work from Home Success Strategy #2: Get over disappointments as quickly as possible. Focus on your desired outcomes again, and adjust your actions in accordance with whatever the disappointment is teaching you.

Work from Home Success Strategy #3: Don’t forget to take a lunch or exercise break. You can get on a treadmill of work that doesn’t provide breaks when there’s no office culture that pushes you to take a break. Breaks are good for mind, body and spirit.

Work from Home Success Strategy #4: Create a fabulous space. Inspire your space. Bring in art. Old calendar pictures are an inexpensive way to uplift your spirits, if they are matted or posted nicely. File your business and personal paperwork in different places.

Work from Home Success Strategy #5: Create weekly opportunities to meet face-to-face with people. This might include taking a class or attending a business network luncheon. This gets you out of those slippers and jammies and may give you a few new ideas for improving your processes and practices.

Good luck!

A few key methods stand out and there are dozens more. If you have a suggestion that has personally worked for you, please send it over in e-mail for a future column.

Two key methods are to:
1: Build a product line and promote it online
2: Find an affiliate product line you believe in and promote it online.

Both of these methods will work more quickly when you build a list of people who follow you or who are in line with your interests. This can happen on Facebook or Twitter or Linked In, etc.

Key success factors with these pathways include:
#1: Focus on the audience. Who wants your products? Whether you are choosing to create a series of articles or sell someone else’s products, get to know your customer.

#2: Create or promote something you personally believe in, have checked out, feel good about, or otherwise can sanction.

#3: Build trust with people who believe in you.

#4: Don’t spam or create gobs of search-engine-optimized junk that does not provide a service, give advice, offer insight, or provide helpful information. It’s very tempting when you wade through the affiliate marketing text on the internet to buy into the junk method of re-posting other people’s stuff. Now, it is a good idea to post links to other people’s stuff, but make sure it is good stuff.

#5: To create your own product line, get clear on something that is needed in your world. Build a series of PDF file reports; audio files; and then compile Powerpoint files or image files with the audio files to make DVD or video instructions of your product.

It is so much easier than everyone makes out! Most people are very aware and bright on at least a few topics. So choose a topic you feel very good about and go for it.

Get the word out strategically and consistently.

If you don’t feel confident about building a product, choose someone else’s product to promote. Here is an example of how I integrated affiliate marketing into my web site with (what I believe to be) ethics and integrity.

What I did was to build a weekly e-mail list where people can find work from home job listings. So many people resonated with that desire, that I went ahead and created a new blog of the listings a week after they publish.

You can pull products from anywhere! My friend Astrid has started a new line of products that she believes strongly about. They are homewares from another country (www.fleurdelishomewares.com) and she has amassed some at home to show customers who want to order them, too. It is a very specific niche and Astrid has excellent home decor taste.

To get started on defining your affiliate business, here are some steps:

Step 1: Go to Link Share and get an affiliate account. It’s free.
http://www.affiliateshoppingsignup.com. It gives you access to products from 500 stores.

Step 2: Create a web site or blog where you can post your recommendations. I used blogspot for my creation “Jobs for Busy Moms,” because it is connected to Amazon.com and that made for some enjoyable linking with ease.

Step 3: Choose things you want to promote. If you don’t like any of the 500 stores at Link Share, you might like something on Clickbank, a site where affiliates sign up for free to hundreds of download-able products.

For me, I started a job listing for moms who need jobs but want to keep being a mom fully & wholly. This comes from my heart. Then I allowed advertisements to show up on the right hand side of the blog. I’m OK with that because I like to feed my kids every day, and such.

Step 4: Get the word out about your site. Blog about it. E-mail friends links to your recommendations. You can post articles that are related at www.Ezinearticles.com, ideamarketers.com, or any of hundreds of article sites. If you want to think big about it, there is a site called Traffic Geyser but it costs $99 a month. You can test it for one-month for free. Then you can take your articles and movies (they show you how to make a movie with powerpoint and a phone call) and share with the world. You can also post on mom sites and send information to friends about things that you believe in.

There are many, many opportunities and lots of web sites on this topic. Beware of anyone who wants you to pay for a list of opportunities. The site Rat Race Rebellion contains some good nuggets. You can e-mail me for more information, too, if you like. I steer clear of anything that feels or smells like a scam. I’ve left off so many options, but you can also get paid to post articles; answer surveys; and mturk via Amazon.com has some odd pay for clicking opportunities.

Good luck!

Instead of focusing on how I would have preferred to have been born wealthy, I’ve opted to identify and thrive on jobs for busy moms. Here are key strategies when seeking for a job that works with being a mom:

Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 1: Stay clear on the outcomes you want to achieve.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 2: Be up front with employers about your desire for some flexibility in the schedule. Especially if you are going to attempt a 40-hour work week.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 3: If you choose to become an entrepreneur, model your business after those who make a full-time salary on 10 hours per week. Don’t trade time for money, leverage your time investment.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 4: Don’t underestimate your value or your power.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 5: Create a home office environment that supports your business efforts.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 6: When searching online for openings, identify key words connected with higher paying opportunities. Avoid tiny amounts of money.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 7: If you choose to run a business, find something you are passionate about.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 8: Cover the gap (if you choose). When creating your resume following several years of being a mommy, focus on your accomplishments in bullet point and provide a job summary on page 1 devoid of dates. On page 2, you can place all of the dates of your past careers.
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 9: Become an affiliate of products that you personally use as a mom. It’s free!
Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 10: When in doubt, know the love you share with your children is worth more than any full-time position that does not give you flexibility could ever be worth.

More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 1: Make a picture in your mind. Imagine yourself working easily, with good income, and still being there for your family to nurture and grow your children in the manner you believe is best. See it all being in harmony. See it so you can achieve it. Every mom is an individual.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 2: If you need a job to feed the kids, it is OK to take on a full-time non-kid-friendly position for the short term. But if you aspire to be in a place of harmony and good will for all, be open with employers and discover a way to get the job done with daytime flexibility for doctor and dentist appointments and occasional school performances. Many employers understand the value of giving an employee the freedom to be a good parent, without losing the quality of a job well done.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 3: Be smarter. Be more intense. Work differently. It’s so different now that you are a parent. Make the most out of every single moment of opportunity. Grow your business with focus, intensity, purpose, and with knowledge that milestones may take you twice as many months as before you had children. One brilliant idea is worth six months in the trenches.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 4: Believe in your value. Understand that you come to the table now with more experience than before you could juggle all of the responsibilities of parenting. You also have a better perspective. Your management skills have actually improved. Make a list of your parenting accomplishments if you don’t believe how much you can now get done in any given day!
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 5: An operational computer, printer, phone and scanner that is in its own dedicated space is a must for a work at home mom. Create a filing system and keep your home bills and your business paperwork separate.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 6: Lift your expectations. Work at home positions can take advantage of how low people will go, especially when you factor in people in different parts of the country or world where the cost of living may not be the same as where you live. Learning this the hard way will have you spinning your wheels and feeling badly because making $9 to spend three hours on a mystery shopping expedition (where you spy on a company’s employees) can be beat. Even in mystery shopping, some gigs pay $50 per shop. So, take time to sort out your highest and best skills and focus on compensation that is fair and higher than you were settling to receive. You’ll appreciate yourself more when your standards are higher. Take a moment and appreciate yourself!
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 7: When you are passionate about what you do, it does not feel so much like work. It becomes something that you can talk about easily with others, grow your business naturally, and find new clients easily. Get passionate about it!
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 8: If you’re not happy with how the gap looks on your resume, create a two-page resume. On the first page, don’t let the gap show. Focus with bullet points on achievements, accomplishments, and professional summary as well as possibly a mention of your education. On the second page, you can go through your history more chronologically. This gives the person reading your resume a full page of connecting with your background before finding out about the gap, and softens the impact of it.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 9: There are more than 25,000 affiliate opportunities. It is free to choose a product or series of products or vendor that you admire and represent them. Write about the products, review them, or post advertisements for them on a web or blog site. Link to the affiliate link and you will earn income from it. It’s easy and enjoyable.
More on Jobs for Busy Moms Strategy No. 10: The light in your child’s eyes is worth more than money could ever buy.

Erica M Nelson is the author of the weekly job list “Jobs for Busy Moms” available at www.JobsforBusyMoms.com. Her book “Prospect When You Are Happy” was written in 2007 on a camping trip with her three children, all under age 5 at the time. To contact Erica, email her at AuthorEricaNelson@gmail.com.

Here’s a link to the show and when the archive posts, I’ll provide a link to that too!

I am thankful for my children, Isabel, Paul & Madeline. The true light of my life!

I am thankful for my cats Cici and Scoop.

I am thankful for Indian Hills Ranch and my beautiful horse Dakotah, and all of the friends I have at the ranch.

I am so blessed and thankful for all of my clients and all the people I help on their path. I am by nature a teacher, a leader, and an inspiration. I can’t help this, it is the core of my essence and my being. I am thankful for all who appreciate my teachings and all who shine their own light.

One client in particular started her own book last week and I am so thankful she is in that space of peace and calm and creation and loves picking flowers to place on tables in her home.

I am thankful that I am growing and changing through the pain of my husband’s layoff. This is a huge growth spurt for me. I am learning to be compassionate and it doesn’t come fully easily to me in my own “home.”

I am so very thankful for all of the television and media opportunities that keep flying into my life. I am still not sure why I keep attracting TV opportunities but I’m thankful about it anyhow.

And I’m thankful for a real estate agent named Ruby who was able to get a short sale approved for a client of mine.

I’m thankful for the San Jose Mercury News for running my weekly articles on career inspiration. I wrote one on layoffs for November 22 edition, it was hard to write and I am thankful the words showed up this morning.