I started to prepare for Monday Morning Breakthrough and arrived at a topic that sounded great.

If you’re trying to power through to the next level in your business or life, try dropping one thing that isn’t working for you anymore.

By letting something old go, you’re freeing up time and mental space for something new – something that may just be the ticket you need to get to the next level of success.

This isn’t new for me and I hope it isn’t new for you.  We should review and evaluate our projects for ROI (Return on Investment) on a regular basis.

So, with a topic for Monday Morning Breakthrough chosen, I cast my thoughts around my business for an activity or project that should be dropped… and ran into a bit of a quandry.

The one activity of my week that I’ve recently felt lacked ROI is Monday Morning Breakthrough!

So guess what I’m not doing anymore… starting with THIS Monday?

I love the web.  I love it’s vastness, it’s creativity, it’s never ending ability to provide much needed answers and every once in awhile insert a little wonder into my day.

Anybody with access to the internet and something to say can say it and I might end up reading it.

Whether I like what they have to say or not, it’s cool knowing that I’m reading what some unique individual had to say.

Unless of course I’ve stumbled on one of those blogs created by scraped content… then I have that ‘I just threw up a little bit in my mouth‘ feeling.

Auto Blogging software is coming out of the woodwork and It Irks Me!

These programs scrape RSS feeds, run the content through a ridiculous translation program that churns out barely understandable content and slaps it up on a blog.

Why does it irk me?  Why do I even care?

Well, to start with, it’s pretty annoying when it’s OUR RSS feed that has been scraped and posted (with or without terrible translation efforts).  I get alerts every day about my original blog content that has been re-posted without my permission on a crap blog with no author byline or link back.

Sure, I could chase them down and force them to remove my content but it would very nearly be a full time job to do so.

Then there’s the back link building software that scampers around OUR BLOGS leaving irrelevant comments by the thousands every day in order to build links to these crappy blogs.  It’s gotten so intrusive and frustrating that many top bloggers have closed comments permanently rather than devote time to sorting through them.

Finally, it stinks that we ‘real’ publishers have to share web space with these autoblogs and compete for ranking in the search engines.

Is it naive of me to think that those who actually have the expertise to create original content have a legitimate beef here?

Yes, great content creators still rise to the top and shine. Still, with hundreds if not thousands of crap auto blog sites flooding the net every day… it affects us don’t you think?

I’m sure there’s a positive use for some of the auto blog software out there.  I have a client who swears by WP Robot for posting affiliate product recommendations. It does appear that it can be used with some finesse and not have to cross over into ripping off and scrambling other people’s content.

What do you think?  Do you have any experience with auto blogging software that you’d like to share?

I own a small web design firm.  I work with a select group of clients – many of which have been with us for years and most of the rest have come to us via word of mouth.

I’m a picky provider.  If I don’t enjoy working with you – I won’t be working with you for long.  I am mighty quick with the refund button and would rather give money back than put up with fussy nonsense.   So unless you know me and my work and like doing things my way, you probably shouldn’t hire me.

Wouldn’t that make for a winning ‘About’ page?

It would suit me well though to be honest.  It’s all true. No amount of money is worth putting up with a fussbudget client who can’t communicate what they want and then bicker endlessly over what you do.  It’s my worst nightmare and I won’t have it.

Every service provider I know has a similar ‘worst case scenario’ client.  That person who gets on their last nerve and makes their job miserable.

• The person who emails a project after the dinner hour and wants it done ASAP (meaning before they get up in the morning.)
• The guy who wants you to take his ‘notes’ and set up a website and the notes turn out to be so much gibberish. (And you’re a designer, not a copywriter.)
• The gal who wants to call and talk about their project for an hour at a time several times a week. (But is offended when you bill for that time.)
• The client who bought your special last year who shows up out of the blue to claim the task. (And wants it done yesterday.)
• The one who changes up his vision 80% of the way into the project and wants to adjust everything ‘since we weren’t done yet anyways’. (But who freaks out when you send him a revised proposal with a higher price tag.)

In a corporate environment, services providers have to put up with these folks.  There’s always a boss up the chain of command who tells you that the customer is always right, to suck it up and make the client happy.

Fortunately, I do not work in a corporate environment – and neither do most virtual service providers.

Virtual Assistants, Copywriters, Graphic Designers and others who freelance from home – they are usually the sole link in the chain so to speak and to put it bluntly – they don’t have to put up with your crap.

Do they?  Yeah, most of the time they do.  There are bills to pay and they really do want to make their customers happy – even the annoying ones.

But come on folks.  What is it about working with a home based service provider that makes you so inconsiderate?

Do you really think your VA is waiting by her laptop ready to pounce on your every request?  I think some of you do!  It’s time to wipe that idea out of your head.   She has a life, a family and other clients who have actually thought ahead and submitted a project list in advance.

I’ve been working with the same VA for nearly five years.  I never expect her to drop everything to meet my last minute needs and never assume that she will be available to me after hours unless we have booked time well in advance.  I think ahead.  I plan out the projects that I need her assistance on.  I have her booked for weekly tasks that I don’t even have to think about anymore.  It’s a delightful way to work with a virtual service provider.

Give it a try, I think you’ll like it.

Just about every person I meet with a new online business has a similar goal: to replace their regular paycheck with business profits in about a year or less.

Usually, that doesn’t happen.

Sure, a few overnight success stories pop up here and there – but for the most part, building a real business takes time – even when you’re doing it on the internet.

I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade and  I don’t want to suggest that you slow down on chasing their big goals.  What I do mean to do is encourage those of you who feel like you’ve been working your fingers to the bone for years with slow results.

There’s nothing wrong with being a slow bloomer.

Some flowers grow and bloom super fast.  Other flowers grow slow and bloom late in the season.  Heck, there’s a crazy flower in Mexico that only blooms once every forty years but I hear it’s amazing to behold.

Something I’ve learned eight years into the game is that you never know when someone will suddenly bloom.  They may look like they’re not going anywhere, but under the surface they’ve been soaking it all in and building their foundation with care and skill – then the sun rises one morning and boom – they bloom in a major way.

Some businesses take more time to create than others and the internet gets more competitive every year.

What you have to remember is that you can’t bloom if you’re constantly pulling up roots and moving around.

If you’re always changing things up, choosing new markets or rethinking your brand you’re plucking up the weak little roots of your business and having to establish new ones.  I know it’s normal to need to make a course adjustment in business – but some get addicted to it and never stick with any one plan long enough to see if it works.

More about that next time.

I’m writing this blog post to anyone in internet marketing who has been at the game for four years or more and hasn’t ‘made it’ yet.

Why four years?  Because that is the span of time it took me to build up an online business that replaced my day job’s paycheck.

Four years of single parenting, homeschooling, working full time and having an active social life – in between and around all of that, I worked to build my business.

Do you want to know the secret to my success?

I didn’t give up easy.

The temptation was there to do so though – I just didn’t succumb to it.

Well, that’s not entirely true.  I did give up on some things along the way – projects that wore me out or failed to produce enough profit needed to be given up on.

I didn’t give up on:

• My Target Market (Work at Home Moms who want to make an income primarily online.)
• My Podcast (I’ll be celebrating it’s seventh anniversary this November and that stability earns me a lot of trust.)
• Making Offers (If you don’t make offers, you leave money on the table week after week.)
• Reminding People About Offers (People don’t always act immediately and really don’t mind being reminded.)
• Creating New Products (You always have to be creating something fresh to stay relevant.)
• Developing Relationships (You never know who might be your next lucrative partner or top client.)

If you’ve been trying to build something online for more than four years and you’re just not there yet – ask yourself what you’ve given up on too soon.    In the next few weeks I’m going to be writing more posts just for you – so keep an eye out.  (Subscribe to my RSS feed!)

We all have the opportunity to do something smart today and we all have equal opportunity to do something stupid.

How about we choose smart today?

Today is the official first day of school here in Michigan.  I know that some of you around the country and the world have had your kids back in school for a few weeks already.  I’m curious – how did you spend your first day without the kids?  I’m so curious that I’ve asked moms to share the events of their first day with the kids back to school with me for the next episode of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio.  Would you mind calling in and sharing your ‘first day of school’ experience?  I’ll be choosing one caller to receive a $100 gift certificate to Mom’s Talk Biz – so calling in to contribute would be smart.

What other smart things could you do today?

• You could drink some more water than you usually do.
• You could take a nice walk after lunch.
• You could make your kids a healthy snack after school and show real interest in their day.
• You could organize your desk.
• You could subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed.

If you would rather not do something smart, there are some options for doing something stupid to consider:

• You could waste several hours trolling around Facebook.
• You could spend the entire day at your desk – only getting up to eat or pee.
• You could ignore the kids when they get home from school.
• You could click away from this post and avoid anything that makes you actually consider whether you’re doing something smart or stupid.

I’ve been hosting Work at Home Moms Talk Radio for almost seven years now and have had the opportunity to talk with some awesome women.  I think it’d be great to share some of those interviews with you here on my personal blog so I’ve asked my terrific VA to transcribe a few, starting with the interview I did with Alice Seba on my 300th episode.  If you’d prefer to listen to the interview, you can find it here.

Alice shares a lot about what motivated her to sell several profitable businesses over the years, I know you’ll find our discussion really interesting.

Kelly McCausey: I’m excited to have you on this 300^th episode because of course you encouraged me to start the podcast way back in 2003. I can’t believe that I’ve done this 300 times now.

Alice Seba: Yeah that’s amazing. It seems such a huge number, I can’t believe the time has gone by so much and you’ve worked so hard on it to get to 300. Read more…

Thousands of moms all around the world are putting their children on the bus this month and hoping to make the most of a few precious hours of alone time thinking maybe – just maybe – they’ll be able to make some extra money while the kids are in school.

That’s why we came up with the idea of holding an ‘orientation day’ for new Work at Home Moms over at WAHM Talk Radio.  We held the first Totally Free Tuesday last year and it was a huge hit.  I’m very pleased to be doing it again for a whole new group of moms who are exploring their options.

I chatted with a client of mine last week who revealed that she’d actually first learned about me at last year’s Totally Free Tuesday.  She said she was so impressed by the resources we provided with no strings attached during the event that she knew she could trust me as a business mentor. (What a blessing it was for me to hear that!)

I have a powerful group of speakers again this year!

Sharon McMillan has been diligently exploring resources and building an internet business while working full time and getting her children through their last years of high school and off to college.  She is going to be talking about the challenges of growing a business while still being employed – something that many moms have to deal with.

Susan Scott will be helping us dig down and really think about why we want to have a business.  When we know our ‘why’ we stay motivated through the tough start up days.

Melissa Ingold will be bringing us a meaty segment on using Private Label Rights content smartly.

Melody Thacker is an ultra successful direct seller who will share her strategies for using the internet to grow her team and build her sales.

Lynette Chandler is going to demonstrate how easy it is to install and use WordPress for a website.

Brandie Kajino has some great organizational technology to share with us to help us run business smoothly.

Wendy Piersall is going to encourage you to pursue your ideal dream and learn how to filter out other people’s ideas and influences that don’t fit your unique aspirations.

I’ll be covering some of my favorite topics throughout the day as well, helping you to choose good domain names and avoid common internet business pitfalls.  Even if you’re not a ‘new WAHM’ you’ll probably still really enjoy participating in the sessions.

And yes , it’s all free!

All you have to do is get registered here.

Want to be a Sponsor?

You can sponsor Totally Free Tuesday and get your business exposed to thousands of moms, if you’re interested shoot an email to support@momstalknetwork.com to request details.

Mojo is bubbling… a couple of days away from the computer has definitely done some good.  I just sat down to catch up on email and looked around my desk – trying to see it all with fresh eyes.

I have some questions for myself:

What if I stopped monitoring Twitter the same old way?

For just a few minutes here I’ve been wondering – should I stop monitoring Twitter at all?  Should I just let replies and DMs alert me by email and leave the live stream unattended?

Radical thinking for me… I’ve been monitoring Twitter pretty much non stop for a couple of years now.

What do you think?

Should I create a more structured Coaching Program?

My one on one coaching is all very client led (they bring questions and projects, I give answers and feedback and we brainstorm) and other than my 42 Day Launch Incubator which guides them through creating a low cost information product by hosting an inexpensive teleseminar – I don’t have a ‘program’ for clients to go through.

What do you think?  What sort of structured coaching program would appeal to you?

What if I mix things up with my Podcast?

I’ve got plans to change up my format at Work at Home Moms Talk Radio and am so excited about it.  It will be more time intensive but the results should be amazing!  The extra time needed to record and edit concerns me a bit… I’m not sure I can keep up a weekly schedule for that.  So what if I changed things up and published shows in a different format now and then?

What do you think?  Would that confuse or annoy listeners?  Or do you think they’ll like some variety?

Would love your feedback and look forward to reading the comments!