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Full Name: Jill Hart
Author Since: 2009-02-11
Email: Send Jill Hart an email
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About: Jill Hart: Jill Hart's entrepreneurial career began in her teens when she spent a summer helping her father with his vending business, stocking pop and candy machine. When he put her in charge of a Coke machine and allowed her to keep the profits, she saw the benefits of being her own boss. That entrepreneurial spirit motivates her to show other women how to begin and build their own businesses from home. Her website, CWAHM.com (Christian Work at Home Moms) reaches more than 15,000 women monthly and includes the best work-at-home tips and good clean mom humor you'll find anywhere. Jill is the host of the podcast, Christian Work at Home Moment and co-host of the LIVE internet radio show, The CWAHM Network. Jill writes, blogs and speaks about finding a business niche, creative and inexpensive marketing, and finding balance while working from home. She is a featured blogger in the Guideposts Blogger Network. Jill and CWAHM have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and FIRST Magazine for Women. Her articles have been featured on websites like DrLaura.com and she is a columnist for a number of mom-focused websites. She is also a contributing author in four books and co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept 2009).

Post by Jill Hart:

So You Want To Start a Business – Six Steps To Help You Succeed

Written on August 1st, 2011 | 0 Comments

When starting a business the first step is easy. Before we do anything else we must simply decide to begin. Every decision following that one tends to be more difficult. However, we have a few tips to help get your started down the path to starting your dream business. Full Article

Christian Work at Home Mom: Let God Invade Your Business?

Written on May 3rd, 2011 | 0 Comments

A few years ago I had one of those “lightning bolt” moments. Each year I sit down to write out goals and dreams for my business. Full Article

Christian Work at Home Mom: Avoiding Bookkeeping Drama

Written on April 19th, 2011 | 0 Comments

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” -Matthew 22:21 Full Article

So You Want To Create A Marketing Plan: Six Tips To Make It Happen

Written on March 27th, 2011 | 0 Comments

A marketing plan outlines the basics for how you want to market your business. Your marketing plan helps you establish, direct and coordinate your marketing efforts. It’s your roadmap for success. Your marketing plan allows you to understand your customer base, better determine exactly how products or services will benefit those clients, and create a plan to market to those clients. Below are tips to get you started creating a marketing plan that will help you grow your business effectively: Full Article

So You Want To Master Social Media – Ten Tips to Help You Succeed

Written on January 15th, 2011 | 0 Comments

It’s official. Social media is here to stay. It’s not a fad like so many initially thought and it isn’t going anywhere soon. Businesses have realized that not only is it a great way to connect with current clients, but a great way to land potential clients as well. And that’s only the beginning. Social media also allows you to promote all your upcoming events and products, and even gives you front row access to editors and reporters who might write on your area of expertise. The possibilities are truly endless. But the big question now is, how can entrepreneurs best use the current social media opportunities to help increase business? Here are some tips we feel will help. Full Article

Entrepreneurs – Business Start Up Tips For Ultimate Success

Written on November 10th, 2010 | 2 Comments

We know what it’s like. You have a great idea and are ready to begin building your business, but how do you know where to start? What are the first steps that you should take? Below are a few tips to get you started in the right direction. Full Article

Three Tips To Get You Started Blogging for Business

Written on July 7th, 2010 | 0 Comments

Over the last several years blogging has become the foundation for social media campaigns of businesses big and small. Where Facebook and Twitter help keep companies in the limelight, spreading the word about special events, discounts and newsworthy items, blogs are the place where companies build their reputation and make sales. Full Article

Ten Twitter Tips For Work-at-Home Moms

Written on May 20th, 2010 | 0 Comments

Social Media is quickly growing into one of the most-used marketing tools for work-at-home moms. One of the largest social media websites, Twitter.com, can be an effective way to spread the word about your business and learn from other top representatives in your business niche. However, it can take a lot of time to determine the best ways to use Twitter effectively for business. Below are ten tips to help shorten that learning curve.

1. Choose a Meaningful User name

If possible, grab your business name as well as your own name for use on Twitter. Having an easy-to-find and easy-to-remember username is essential.

2. Brand your Twitter page

Don’t leave your Twitter page boring and plain – spice it up. Make sure you add your logo, contact information and any other information that will be helpful for customers and visitors to your page. You can use a website such as TwitBacks.com to create a free or very low-cost background to bring life to your page.

3. Learn the Lingo

Twitter can be very useful, but it can also be very frustrating … especially if you have no idea what all those little symbols mean that fly across the screen. Take the time to research the meanings of the tags most often used on Twitter. One great place to do so is right on Twitter itself: http://help.twitter.com/portal

4. Follow industry leaders

Veteran entrepreneur Diana Ennen shares this tip: “I love to follow industry experts on Twitter and gain all their business insight. It’s almost like being right there in their office and getting in on their trade secrets. Not only do they post tips and how to information, but often share their business successes and mistakes and that allows me to learn from them. It’s so worth it!”

5. Interact

Don’t be shy! Take a few minutes each day to comments on what others are discussing or to throw out a question or idea. You never know when a topic is going to spark a response and help you build relationships with customers and your fellow Twitter users.

6. Don’t make it all business news – be YOU

It’s great to share about the things going on in your business and you certainly will want to share specials, discounts and other items of interest to your customers. However, as a small business owner you have the unique ability to put a personal face on your business. Let your customers and readers get to know a little about you as well as your business.

7. Run Contests

Twitter is a great fast-paced way to a run a contest. By having a great prize you can create a viral network of “tweets” about your company and the giveaway you’re holding. Sit down beforehand and plan out some great 140 character tweets that you can use throughout the giveaway time – whether that be minutes, hours or even days.

8. Share

Make your Twitter feed a worthwhile read for your customers. Share tips that apply to your target market, links to articles and other informational tidbits. Create a #hashtag for your business or topic (see #3 above) so that you can track re-tweets and mentions of your posts.

9. Be Thankful

A great way to make friends and build contacts is to thank others who re-tweet (RT) your posts. Send a shout-out saying thanks or feature them at special times like FriendFriday (#FF). They’ll know that you’re grateful and you’ll build a community that supports you – and each other.

10. Promote Others

Contrary to popular belief it IS in your best interest to work together with other entrepreneurs and to help spread the word about great things that they may be doing. Not only will people be drawn to your Twitter feed for great information, but they will see that you’re willing to share about more than your own interests. Another great benefit is that those you help promote will one day be there to help promote you as well.

Twitter is a great marketing tool for work-at-home moms. It can help drive traffic to your website as well as aid you in building relationships with your target market. Use the tips above to help guide you in how to best use social media to benefit your business and your customers.

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Jill Hart’s entrepreneurial career began in her teens when she spent a summer working with her father who ran his own business. When he put her in charge of a Coke machine and allowed her to keep the profits, she saw the benefits of being her own boss. She is the founder of the popular Christian work-at-home website CWAHM.com and mentors business owners at Successful Christian Women. Jill is also the co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill Press, 2009).

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Juggling Work and Family When You Work at Home

Written on May 13th, 2009 | 0 Comments

Q: I have been having my home based business for three years now and I still am struggling with how to juggle business and being a mom, wife and housekeeper. How do you juggle these? I want to make this a success, but so far it’s only been frustration. Full Article

Choosing the Home-Business That’s Right For You

Written on April 7th, 2009 | 0 Comments

Starting down a new career path can be both exciting and terrifying. There are a lot of tools on the market that can help you determine what type of career field you should enter. But what if your chosen “career path” is being an entrepreneur and running a home-based business? Do the rules change? Below are five questions to ask yourself to help you determine what type of business might be right for you. Full Article