The Occult

It doesn’t matter how busy you think you are, staying fit is so important when looking at your long-term health perspective.

Exercise is quite simply essential to our overall well-being, and you need to take time to plan your schedule.

If you have been putting it off, start right now! By exercising on a regular basis, you will be much more able to deal with the ups and downs of life, your stress level will be reduced and you can accomplish more without feeling wasted. Just think how productive you can be, in return for a regime that doesn’t need to take a lot of time from your schedule.

Get up earlier in the morning. Almost every fitness expert (you know, those people who like to tell us what to do) seem to agree that we do not need more than eight hours in bed each night. How many hours are you devoting? The chances are that you can cut back a little bit on your sleep and set the alarm clock to go 15 to 30 minutes earlier. Morning is definitely the best time to devote to exercise, as there is less to distract you and unless your time management skills are polished, evening time can quickly whittle way.

Use your lunch hour for something more productive. Most people enjoy an hour for their lunch. Trade in the traditional use of this time for time spent exercising. You might not be lucky enough to live near to a gym, but could take a brisk walk under most circumstances. Maybe this means you have to go out in inclement weather from time to time, but you will feel far more invigorated when it comes to tackling the afternoon’s work schedule. Walking is one of the simplest forms of exercise and as long as you remember to walk along briskly, so your heart rate is elevated, you will be able to get good exercise this way.

Don’t waste the time you sit in front of the TV. I am not suggesting that you ban your favourite shows on television, but while you are spending an hour or two, compose an area in front of the set so that you can do squats, crunches or some other kind of physical activity at the same time as you are watching the tube.

Always make sure that you concentrate on what you’re doing, as we are all capable of multitasking, after all. Figure out some simple exercises and do three sets of each. See how accomplished you feel?

When you have to do chores, take advantage of the situation. Chores are a necessary evil for sure, but they have to be done. This is the time to work out as well. Don’t opt for the easy way of cleaning, put some effort into it, even if this means that you need to get down on your hands and knees and start scrubbing! A physical approach to cleaning and work in the garden will all work for your health.

Plan some family activities. Working out with the family is sure to be a fun activity. A bicycle for each member of the family might well be a shrewd investment, as it will allow you to explore a lot of those local trails together. Now, instead of going to the movie cinema, indulge in a great family bonding exercise such as this.

These days, professional coaching experts reveal, via the web, a number of other areas for you to consider as part of online life coaching.

Explore specific coaching for women alternatives to help you make the most of the time available and to ensure that you maintain tiptop health.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

The Work and Families Act was lauded as being advantageous to mums-to-be when it was introduced in 2007. After all, nine months of statutory maternity pay was available, with up to a year off work allowable. For the family, much more time and attention could be devoted to the task of getting ready, receiving and raising the child during these critical periods. Within the caring society that we live, maternity leave is seen as a human right, even though certain pressures can arise between the employee and the employer as part of the ongoing working arrangement. Employers must take into account that pregnancy is possible among the female employees and they must be able to work within the law, by taking on temporary staff as needed to cover for any women that might be on maternity leave. This is bound to cause a certain amount of disruption, but in the majority of situations, this is taken in stride.

There is a new clause available for the mum on maternity, allowing her to “keep in touch” through the allocation of 10 legislatively permitted days, during which she can attend work and receive a certain number of payments. This element of the legislation was introduced by Parliament to try and smooth over the disruption and the disconnection that could otherwise occur between employer and employee over this lengthy period of time.

There are many ways that Mum can take advantage of “keeping in touch” days, looking at it from different angles. Mum will be able to keep on top of those latest trend changes. It is certainly possible to do a lot of research while remaining at home and to get all kinds of e-mails and other notifications when on leave, but there is nothing to replace that feeling of actually being at your work place, talking and interacting with other staff members and seeing how new policies and procedures are actually working. By “keeping in touch” strategically this way, especially as time approaches to go back to work, the employee is more likely to be able to hit the ground running.

Mum may have been involved with a particularly challenging project when baby called. Those keeping in touch days would be particularly advantageous for her in this case, allowing her to continue to follow through and to impart her valued skills. In an ideal scenario, we would not want the business to suffer in any way and we would not want Mum to be at a disadvantage of any kind when it comes to her career, due to the fact that she was involved in a pivotal project. By using those keeping in touch days, she would just be “behind” in terms of her time spent moving forward.

Mum will be able to interact with her temporary replacement during the time that she is keeping in touch, able to see any issues or problems as they are arising and predicting situations that may have arisen without formal supervision, otherwise.

Each “keeping in touch” day is also paid by the employer and does not affect the amount of maternity leave pay that she may have. This can be a little boost, financially, when it is much needed.

As an extended period away from your work can be challenging indeed, you may well have to seek out professional coaching to give you a good idea how to approach it. These days, online life coaching, specifically online life coaching for women, is a service dedicated to helping us understand how to cope with every distinct phase of our personal lives and business careers.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

For the busy mum who needs additional sources of income, self-employment may seem very palatable. If it were possible to set your own hours, keep up with all the household chores and family commitments and still get a meaningful income, this would be an ideal scenario! Many mums in this position turn to direct selling and of the more than 50 million people estimated to work in this style of business worldwide, almost 70% are women.

So many things can stand in the way of the mum when it comes to getting back to work after a pregnancy or achieving some additional income as a family grows, but professional coaching - particularly coaching for women, can help quickly make these things an achievable possibility. It’s difficult to set a fixed schedule with a family involved, as some of us who have been down that road can testify that any number of crises and last-minute panics can push us off track quite easily. Kids in school are so vulnerable to what seems to be the smallest virus and certainly the school hour-days you had set aside can be suddenly compromised. You might think about a part-time, flexible, direct selling business and if you do, online life coaching can definitely help you focus and get on the right track.

Think about some important aspects before you commit to starting your direct selling business.

- Firstly you must really ask yourself whether you are a socialite, are outgoing and love to meet people. Of course you aren’t a hermit, its just that the business needs you to be very astute in social environments and forward reaching. Search your soul for this answer and be sure that you are ready for this type of scenario before you proceed.

- How good is your research? As we know, the Internet can uncover a wealth of information about any subject. Look into the concept of direct selling and learn all you can about the companies you are considering an involvement with. Direct selling can be a minefield at times and you might come across some so-called opportunities that are very similar to pyramid schemes. Be careful if you come across a program that requires you to sign other people up for financial remuneration. Always check references and contact the testimonial givers as well.

- Direct sales opportunities abound in various industries. Maybe you have an existing hobby that you can set up a business around? Direct selling opportunities exist in childcare, book sales, clothing, beverages, cosmetics, supplements, party supplies, scrap booking, toys, weight management and a host of others. Try to get involved in something that you really like, this is surprisingly important.

- Be wary of any significant start up fees. Start up fees should only be relatively low, for example an initial kit of supplies to start you off. Are you happy with the quality of the product concerned? Would you buy it yourself - if not don’t think that you’ll be able to sell it to acquaintances, friends or friends of your friends without some repercussions!

- Maybe you know somebody who is already into direct selling? While you might not expect them to give away any trade secrets, why don’t you brainstorm with them and you will undoubtedly pick up some great tales from the sharp end to help you decide what to do.

Once you’ve thoroughly investigated a direct selling opportunity and you’re ready to invest in it, the next step is to develop a clear vision of what you want from your business. Set your income, lifestyle and contribution goals as a next step. Once you’ve written up your vision, start taking action by drawing up your first ten steps to getting your new direct selling business off to a flying start.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Sometimes you feel that pure adrenaline alone is keeping you going and you wonder how you are able to survive, let alone function well at work and juggle all the other requirements of being a busy mum.

You realise that you would do well if you could work to a schedule and manage things much more effectively, but your new arrival is not aware of your need to schedule things, at all! During these crucial formative years, the baby is entirely dependent on your response and it sometimes feels as if you are working a 9-to-5 shift in reverse at night, as you answer to your newborn baby’s requirements.

As a devoted mother, you are certainly enjoying your life in your new role, but from time to time you may feel as if you are at the end of your wits, calling on every element of your being to conquer what would otherwise seem to be perfectly mundane tasks. Isn’t in awful, when you can see the new work week approaching and not know how you’re going to cope?

It can be extraordinarily difficult to maintain a schedule and you may have heard the phrase “time management” many times from well-being people, but it is nevertheless essential that you maintain a routine of some kind as closely as possible.

Unless we have a routine, we will just bounce from one problem to another and build up an increasing level of stress, compounding and affecting other areas as we go. So, insofar as you will have to practice an element of damage control here, get into your routine!

In the mornings, keep your procedures as simple as possible. It can be very difficult to get going in the morning if your night’s rest has been disrupted by the needs of the baby. Nevertheless, there is much to do and if you do these items in the same order each day, it will be easier.

Your top priority must be your exercise regime. Don’t be tempted to take an extra 15 minutes in bed. While you’re on the treadmill, the coffee can be brewing and the early morning headlines, traffic and weather ahead of you on the TV. At the appropriate time, get the children out of bed and ensure that they do their own chores as well, to help you out.

After a while, you will get this procedure down to a finite science, every single day. This can be the most stressful time of the day as you are trying to wake yourself up and focus on what you have to do. If your routine is clockwork and all the other members of the family understand this and also do their bit, you’ll be better prepared to get out of the door running.

From time to time, you might think that you have nothing available when it comes to keeping up with your “me time” and enjoying your social life, having to concentrate so hard on work and the baby. Take time to foster a good relationship with a caregiver and understand how important this person can be to you.

You will hopefully have an understanding boss at work. Never take advantage of the situation though and only call in any favours or use any delay allowances or personal days if absolutely necessary. If you always play fair, whenever emergencies come along, you will be more able to deal with this situation and to meet with your boss’s favour.

At work, try not to schedule anything too technically demanding for first thing in the day and make sure you do not overload your schedule with unrealistic expectations.

During your 9-to-5 routine at work, time management is very important, as you don’t want your work requirements to spill over into your personal time.

In most cases, professional coaching can focus your attention on key areas of your life. Dedicated coaching for women is praised by many in your situation, who have turned to online life coaching to really help them get past “the wall.”

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

There is little to match the exuberance or ecstatic feelings that you and your whole family share when a new arrival is on the way. You will be beside yourself with joy as an expectant mother and you can be sure that this will be one of the finest moments of your family’s life.

Friends and acquaintances will also be over the moon and will all look forward to the big day with much anticipation.

As your feelings of happiness know no bounds, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the World would be happy for you as well and while this is largely the case, certain elements of negativity may, however, still arise.

Surely, your boss is happy for you, but he or she may not be on quite the same level as everyone else and be particularly concerned with the operation of the business. In fact, in this case the business may come squarely in first place and you may have to be particularly persuasive if you are considering flexible working hours for your busy times ahead.

If your boss is something of a dinosaur when it comes to flexibility in these situations, then you will have to be creative if not very persuasive.

Seek out a co-worker or friend who has been in the position that you are in now and sit down to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her, to see how the two-way communication with her boss was initiated and how the situation panned out. While you are at this research stage, talk to other friends in other industries or professions and see what solutions they were able to come up with.

Your creativity may well unveil to you the idea of working from home or telecommuting, especially if you are forward thinking. The good news is that this is becoming more and more of a trend as companies seek to save overheads. If the type of work that you do can be handled in this way, this may well be an option for you.

Above all else, you must first decide what would be the absolutely ideal situation for you. In other words, be careful what you wish for!

Look for an ideal scenario and come up with options for less-than-perfect deals. Above all else, look at your home situation and understand what you will be able to accommodate before asking.

Be strategic, yet careful when you discuss ideas and options with colleagues. In a situation where you collectively share the workload in your office, see how you could come up with a more flexible schedule by dividing up the work creatively. You must be more than willing to pull your weight, of course, and before you consider approaching others or your boss with the idea, be fully confident that it will be a win/win/win position for everybody.

Some of us have jobs that expect us to complete certain tasks as part of a “job and finish” approach, regardless of the time that it takes and as part of your new schedule idea, contemplate whether you will be able to achieve this goal during your personal time.

The more you can show your boss that you would be equally as productive, if not more productive by working a flexible schedule, the more the dinosaur is likely to stop chewing the vegetation and listen to you!

Contemplate online life coaching as a valuable source of research. Luckily, coaching for women can generally help by suggesting various options for a variety of situations. In this day and age, professional coaching is not just for sports players or executives any more!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Tens of thousands of applications are there to really help us enjoy our iPhones. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the iPhone has completely revolutionised the way that we communicate.

Other manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the popularity of the iPhone and much of its dominance appears to be associated with the sheer number of applications that we can enjoy.

There are applications for almost everything under the sun and you can do amazing things with your iPhone! As a working mum, here are some awesome iPhone apps that you should not be without.

The Baby Brain is an app for everyone with newcomers. This is an iPhone app that is designed to help you track sleeping patterns, breast-feeding time and diaper changes. It’s rather easy to set up and you can just tap the screen when an event starts and ends, as you record according to configured parameters. It even allows you to see which place the baby fed from previously, when you are breast-feeding. The app even has a timer which will alert you when you are breast-feeding; if for example you are working on a project at the same time.

If you are working on a budget, this one could be great - ShoppingPal prompts you to take a picture of an item that you might have your eye on, type in a few details - maybe the price, the size or other important details, and save for future use. Now when you comparison shop you don’t have to rely on your memory or rush back and forth between stores, trying to make up your mind. You know how stressful this can all be if you have kids in tow or have little time to spend anyway as you balance family issues with your work.

The people who design iPhone applications are certainly creative. You can even get an application to alert you to a crying baby, and all you need to do is to activate the app and put the phone next to the sleeper and when the sound rises above a certain, predetermined rate, the phone will automatically call you! Baby Phone Deluxe works great as a baby monitor.

If you are planning a lengthy journey, why not bring along Scribble Lite? This iPhone application allows the kids to paint, sketch or draw in different colours and, just like the Etch-a-Sketch games of the 60s, all you do is shake the phone to erase the masterful creation and start again.

When you have time to devote to reading, Kindle for iPhone can present you with full-length books for your consideration. You don’t have to worry about lugging around textbooks, or those books that you have to “absorb” yourself in for a work project. These apps allow you to pick the work up and put it down whenever you need to, inserting a virtual place-holder wherever you pause.

Technology is certainly making the life of a working mum much fairer. Consider also specific coaching for women as professional coaching becomes more and more popular. You can be far more productive and online life coaching may well be your gateway.

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

Staying fit is an absolutely essential part of your long-term health plan, no matter who you are or what your “story” is.

Exercise is quite simply essential to our overall well-being, and you need to take time to plan your schedule.

If you have been putting it off, start right now! When you exercise regularly your stress level will go down, you will be sharper and you will be able to do a lot more without feeling worn out. Just think how productive you can be, in return for a regime that doesn’t need to take a lot of time from your schedule.

Rise early each morning. Almost every fitness expert (you know, those people who like to tell us what to do) seem to agree that we do not need more than eight hours in bed each night. How many hours are you devoting? The chances are that you can cut back a little bit on your sleep and set the alarm clock to go 15 to 30 minutes earlier. Many swear that they get more achieved if they exercise during the morning, as distractions are at a minimum and unless you are an expert at time management, your evening can quickly be gobbled up.

Use your lunch hour for something more productive. You don’t have to take an hour for lunch. If you spend this time exercising instead, you could be better off. You might not be lucky enough to live near to a gym, but could take a brisk walk under most circumstances. Don’t be afraid of going out in the rain if you have to adjust and remember how much better you will feel when you return to tackle the afternoon schedule. This approach is probably the simplest way to make sure that you get good exercise, by walking briskly and making sure that you have elevated your heart rate appropriately.

Optimise TV time. I am not suggesting that you ban your favourite shows on television, but while you are spending an hour or two, compose an area in front of the set so that you can do squats, crunches or some other kind of physical activity at the same time as you are watching the tube.

Always make sure that you concentrate on what you’re doing, as we are all capable of multitasking, after all. Do three sets of some simple exercises in this way. You will certainly feel a lot livelier when you finish.

Take advantage of those chores. As much as we don’t like to do household chores, we still have to do them. This is the time to work out as well. Try putting some additional effort into cleaning methods, even if it means you have to get down on all fours to scrub away! A physical approach to cleaning and work in the garden will all work for your health.

Plan some family activities. Working out with the family is sure to be a fun activity. A bicycle for each member of the family might well be a shrewd investment, as it will allow you to explore a lot of those local trails together. This can be a great family bonding activity and you can schedule something like this instead of a visit to the cinema, for example.

Today, professional coaching experts can tell you, on the Internet, about a number of other solutions for you as part of an online life coaching approach.

Explore specific coaching for women alternatives to help you make the most of the time available and to ensure that you maintain tiptop health.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

If you have to return to work after being off for maternity leave for some time, the prospects can appear to be quite worrying. It can be so strange that you can feel almost as if you are removed, as if you have been on an extremely long holiday, for example.

It goes without saying of course that the time you have spent away has been anything but a relaxing time and you feel as if you have been working all the hours available, as it is! Nevertheless, it’s now time to get back to a career and you need to pay attention to your CV or résumé.

1. Be positive about the situation. During your time off you have amassed several new skills. You are really good at multitasking, time management, project management and your coping skills have improved considerably! When you have to manage a typical home and be responsible for bringing up a new arrival, you should not underestimate the skills that you are able to master and they should be added to your résumé.

2. Some specific coaching for women advocates that you should compose a “functional” résumé in this situation. This type of approach lists your skills and qualifications rather than focusing on a chronological list of employers. As such, you are definitely focusing on your experience and this should be stressed in the body of the document. Simply list your employers and don’t mention the dates, but focus on your qualifications, experience and skill set.

3. Do not be apologetic when it comes to your maternity leave absence. Employers do not look badly upon somebody who has taken time off to be with their family as they have a lot more to worry about, such as staff without any motivation, or who are forced to stay home. Be prepared to defend your position as being very acceptable to society!

4. During your absence from full-time employment you may well have dedicated some time to extracurricular studies, maybe evening classes, voluntary work, etc. Put all this experience into a positive light and include it on your résumé. This will show that you are well capable of being a home keeper and a mother at the same time and can dovetail your interests and duties through multitasking, which your employer will appreciate.

5. Reveal how in control you can be, by showing that you have a plan to manage the time that you are away. For instance, it is far better to say that you had a plan to be with your new baby until a set date, a certain age, for example. This is far more preferable than saying that you are just going to be with your baby “until the little one is ready,” as this does not show much spirit. Once again, it shows that you are in control.

6. Do some research before you prepare to send out those résumés. How long have you been away for? Your research should reveal what has changed in a particular line of business. This will prompt you to learn about new operating procedures, or to catch up on specific areas of education, for example. Make sure that you include this on your résumé, as it will strengthen your position.

7. You may think that you need to rely on contacts that you made prior to your career break and that any references you include should be “business only,” but this is not the case. By networking and moving in your regular circles during your time away from work, you will have built up a good list of contacts who will be able to attest to your character, composition and reliability.

In our modern society, professional coaching advice from online life coaching experts can help you to focus on all that is positive in your life, so that you come up with a perfectly presentable résumé.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

Whilst Stephen Covey may have outlined seven habits of effective people, especially from a business perspective, specific coaching for women can help us interpret these seven habits for single mums - mums who are able to overcome significant obstacles and become highly effective in their day-to-day living.

It is possible to reinterpret some of these habits in a different way as they overlap in certain cases, but you should adopt these principles wherever possible if you are new at being a single mum or are beginning to feel stretched beyond all comparison.

Habit number one – Master the clock.

We all have the same amount of time in a given day, but how we use it dictates how we will feel after the sun goes down. Will we feel that we have been productive and are thereby refreshed, or will we feel that we have been bouncing from pillar to post and still seem to have little achieved?

Those who fall into the first category are generally masters of time and have itemised what they need to do in any given day to get through. By taking baby steps and not looking too far ahead of yourself if you have a busy schedule, you can avoid the feeling that everything is so daunting and not compromise your chances.

Layout everything that you need to do on a sheet of paper, categorised according to hourly, daily, weekly or monthly activities and start to bring it all together. Now may be the time to consider professional coaching to help you master this.

Habit two - Be habitual.

Your highly effective timetable will be no good unless you get into the habit. You may have to set up some triggers to start off with and have some fundamental goal posts to aim for as you go through each day, but through a process of repetition you will find that you get those more mundane yet necessary tasks achieved this way.

If you stick to your timetable and become used to doing these tasks, you will be able to achieve them in far less time and have lots of personal space available to you at the end of the day.

Habit number three – Set up voicemail.

Distractions are the enemy, unfortunately, even though we would wish to catch up on the latest gossip with a neighbour.

You may not have the luxury of a personal secretary to answer your random phone calls and the most effective businessmen or women do not become distracted, so you must maintain your focus and don’t be tempted.

Habit four - Plan for the rainy day.

You know that rainy days will come and that family issues will sometimes trump what is going on at work. Look after your personal days at work and only use them for emergency purposes. If at all possible, see if your schedule will allow you to catch up from time to time by working an evening per week or even on Saturday mornings, so when the inevitable issue with the kids at school comes up it will not be a major concern for everyone.

While these rainy days may certainly throw your clock mastery out of sync, the highly effective single mum has planned in advance as best she can.

Habit five - It’s all about me.

No amount of efficiency and dedication to what you have to do for your family and your work will count if you do not allow time for personal re-invigoration.

There is a time for delegation, to get away from it all to recharge your batteries, so you can come back refreshed and be able to take it all on again.

Habit number six – Be fit.

The most important thing in life for you and your family is health. Never be tempted to sleep in for an extra 15 minutes at the expense of your daily walk on the treadmill. This absolutely must be at the top of the list of priorities and if you don’t do this, over a period of time efficiency will suffer and you will not be able to be as effective as you might otherwise have been.

Habit seven - Scratch a back.

You might well be able to manage as a single mum for the majority of the time, but if you are forward thinking you know that there will be times when you need help. Hopefully you will have a good network of acquaintances, friends and other family members and should nurture this support group by putting time into your schedule to help them out in advance. Covey talked about a “win-win” situation when he was outlining his seven habits and this is what you are doing here. Help each one of your contacts by donating your resources or time and you will have kept your side of the “win-win” equation.

There can certainly be a lot to it, but you shouldn’t despair. These days, online life coaching can help you drill even further into those seven habits and come up with your action plan for the future.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

These are exciting times. You have so many opportunities open to you as a mumpreneur/mompreneur and many of these opportunities would be simply unheard of only a handful of years back.

There was a time when people who worked from home were looked at in a very poor light, if you remember. People couldn’t conceive how it could be possible to earn real, usable money in this way. Times are so different now and it’s certainly possible to turn a hobby or passion into a worthwhile and rewarding business when you are working from home.

Traditionally, you had to spend long hours at boring Chambers of Commerce network meetings, or had to engage in other forms of “push” marketing at all times, but now you can be creative and develop a marketing plan for your business online.

1. The first thing that you need to remember is that you have to have a profile on one of the top professional networking websites, Linkedin for example. This is where professionals go to meet other professionals and you can set up a profile so that others in your specific line of business become aware of you.

2. Social media is all the rage. Not only is it a way to interact socially with friends, acquaintances and “soon-to-be” friends, but it can be a very powerful business marketing tool as well. Consider Facebook. You can set up a business page as part of your Facebook account and by unveiling your creation to all your friends and contacts; you can create “fans” of your business.

3. If you want to send very highly targeted messages, think about Twitter, as this is one of the leading social media “mini blogs.” It’s very simple to set up an account in your business name and to look for and start engaging with people who are interested in your niche. As you may know, Twitter messages are very short - 140 characters or less, but they can be very specific and can begin to show that you are an expert in your niche and know exactly what you’re talking about.

4. WordPress is a great platform that allows you to create highly professional looking blogs. Blogs are very powerful but do take a lot of work, and you should be prepared to work on your creation each and every day. Set a blog up as a vehicle for you to talk about your knowledge in this business arena and aim to write one new blog post per day and publish it. It’s not at all difficult to do.

5. There are many, many ways that you can promote your business using social media. Once you have your blog set up and have your Facebook and Twitter accounts established, you can start visiting other “authority” blogs and begin interacting.

The area reserved for comments beneath each blog post is highly important and when two-way interaction is created like this, you benefit. As comments appear, others will realize that there is activity going on and this will start a stream of traffic and further comments. Remember, social media can become quite viral rather quickly.

As a mumpreneur, you can use social media and professional coaching advice will always recommend this approach. While you are online, seek out these online life coaching experts and you will find that many of them are focused on providing coaching for women, just like you.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!