Cherylsweb Blog

Event Planning

2009-10-25T00:58:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been realizing that my primary talents lie in event planning of all kinds. From a simple child's party to scientific and technical conferences to four day music festivals, I've helped plan all of these types of events in the past 10 years. I am even contemplating planning other events such as bus trips or tourist tours. Event planning is not brain surgery, but it is complex in that every event requires a high level of detail and every event requires attention to people - individuals. In a conference, it is the speakers AND the participants. In a child's party, it's the kids AND the parents. In a festival, it is the bands AND the fans - treat everyone like gold and bend over backwards to get people what they ask for, and you will be remembered as a true professional. You will fear at first the people will be too demanding, but you will find that the truly demanding are few and far between. Most people are reasonable in their requests, so their needs are easily met. They are happy and will tell others how well they were treated.

So anyway, I'm realizing that what I do is events. This is my specialty. So cool.

Neglectful

2009-02-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, so how long have I neglected this blog? For over a year, that's how long! Geez. Where did 2008 go? Well, I relocated my family cross-country and accepted a great job in DC where I get to work from home most of the time, and I started a relationship in addition to spending a great deal of the first several months back on the east coast reconnecting with old - and new - friends. So many of my online activities were neglected, but 2009 is already much different. In 2008, I just tried to keep up with all the changes. Now, I am actively working on reaching specific goals.

Believe me, 2008 taught me that if you don't have goals and daily, weekly, monthly actions to reach them, pretty much nothing will get done. It's easy to neglect what isn't defined. When defined, it's easy to get just little things done each day that at the end of a week or month amount to a lot! It's almost like progress creeps up and one day when you take the time to measure what's been accomplished from the beginning or even from just a week ago to now, you can be astounded. Take it from me, write down goals and then break them down into daily and weekly actions to reach them. Check out my article about Single Daily Actions for more on this. http://www.cherylsweb.com/articles/sdas02.html

Social Networking Does Work

2007-12-03T09:18:00.001-08:00

There are lots of social networking sites, many of which are well-known for purely social interactions, e.g., friendships. However, these sites can be powerful promotional tools for your business as well. Check out the following social networking sites and consider the ways in which your business can be enhanced by membership. At the least, these sites provide what can be very important networking, potential partnerships or business/work for you. One specific way you can promote your business or services is, for example, on MySpace, you can send "bulletins." These bulletins are posted to all of your "friends" on the site (which with a business-oriented page, are customers or potential customers/clients). Sometimes, you can get some of those friends to repost your bulletin for you, thus spreading the word to their friends. Be careful not to send blatant advertisements, but useful information, to gain the trust and loyalty of your friends.

Check these out and spread the word that you are in business!

MySpace.com
Facebook.com
Friendster.com
Xanga.com
Ryze.com
Tribe.net
LinkedIn.com
Doostang.com
Bebo.com
hi5.com
Ning.com
Orkut.com
OpenSocial.com

Don't forget to check out my site for home business ideas - http://www.cherylsweb.com/

Can You Find Me A Work At Home Job?

2007-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Can You Find Me A Work At Home Job?

by Cheryl Williams Levey

I can't tell you how often someone has asked me this question or some iteration of it. I really have to bite my tongue and be careful with my response too. Like ANY job, and ESPECIALLY work from home jobs, you have to do some research and apply, apply, APPLY! You can't be half-assed about it. If you're looking for data entry or something like that, remember that literally thousands upon thousands of other people are applying for the same job too.

Because of that, I have the following advice for you.

Start your own business, .e.g., work for yourself. Don't worry with finding an outside job that lets you work from home. You can do that later - right now you need to generate some income. That's the primary issue, right? So start your own business, even if it is by your own name. Mine is - as a freelancer.

With your own business, niche yourself - specialize in something. Don't try to be a jack of all trades. I'm serious here. If you try to do everything one of two things will happen: (a) You will become overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough cash-flow to hire help to help you or (b) more likely... no one will hire you because they aren't sure you can do what THEY need you to do.

Sure you can serve many industries but it's better to focus on just one. For example, real estate, the science or tech sector, restaurants, health care.... There are hundreds of extremely viable industries in which to focus and you should focus NOT on the one you think has the most money but the one you CARE about.... an industry that is of interest to you OR the one you have background in.

For example, I worked outside the home for 18 years in the sci/tech sector. When I became a freelancer, people I knew from my past job were my first clients. And some of them still call on me - four years later. Additionally, I love music. Studied it in college. Wanted to be in the music industry. For the past eight years, my ex-husband and I have put on an annual rock music festival that has grown from a one-day event to a three-day blow your ears off jam :)

But back to the point, start your business and niche it in an industry you love. Then niche it some more. What do you want to do for your industry-specific clients? Websites? Design of brochures, newsletters, menus, ads, coupons? Health-related data entry or transcriptionist? Or do you want something less "officey" - do you want to become a real estate agent's assistant and help show homes? Or develop new menu items for restaurants? Or even grow fresh herbs and sell them to restaurants? Your imagination is the limit here so really focus on what would make you the happiest.

Of course, if you are relying on your background and previous contacts for work, your expertise and what you already know how to do will probably be what is expected of you.

There are some great resources for finding work from home and lots of ideas for starting your own business at my site http://www.cherylsweb.com. Check it out!

_______________________________
Cherylsweb.com gives you a true-to-life look at being a work at home single mom - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Do you have what it takes to work from home? Find out here --> Visit http://www.cherylsweb.com.
__________________________________

Tis the Season for Giving

2007-12-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

But of course, you can donate all year round using this handy website -

http://www.donorschoose.org/homepage/main.html

There are all kinds of organizations and projects listed here, some that can be completely funded for very little money. Your donations are tax-deductible. Please keep this link in mind even after the holidays :)

Finding "Good" Information on whatever you want...

2007-12-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

By entering "site:.edu [your subject]" (no quote marks) in Google, you can find information on just about anything you can imagine. (From ETR - http://www.earlytorise.com)

Websites ending in .edu are those of educational institutions and other sources of information that are, for the most part, trustworthy. Anyone can put anything on the web, but .edu sites tend to be those that are "real."

Knowing this one little thing can help out any information professional, whether a freelancer or not.

Whoooooosh!

2007-11-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Where did October go? I was reflecting on that last night... Life seems to zoom by at the speed of light lately anyway but October went especially fast. October is an active month anyway - the kids have a fall break and we traveled. I also traveled alone late in the month. Then of course there is lots going on at their school, fall field trips, clubs, after school activities and of course Halloween!

I personally also have a lot of projects going on, including the rock music festival I work on each year (this is my last one.... I am considering a blues festival next...) which is coming up next weekend. Lots of stuff to do for that, including lists of bands and ticket purchases and house guests. I am also working on some blues music related things (thus the travel) along with my regular freelance work and a couple other website ideas.

I guess the point of this blog is to point out that life goes in cycles. Some times are more relaxed than others, some busier than others, and some in between. Kinda like the Three Bears story, huh? All I know is that I don't think I could have done all I have done in October this year if I had a traditional job. Thank God for self-employment!

On Having a Supportive Partner

2007-09-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

We all know what it's like to have our aspirations blown off as though we are silly or stupid. We've seen the eyes roll and heard the sighs of exasperation. We've probably been even told, by people close to us, that we're crazy for trying such-and-such or whatever. This happens particularly when we first decide to work for ourselves and are possibly contemplating leaving a "decent" job, but it can still happen after we've proven ourselves to be able to make a living for ourselves as well. One thing we need to survive the sometimes scary and overwhelming world of self-employment is at least one person who believes in us. This can be your spouse (but often is not) or another family member or a friend or even a business acquaintance. Encouragement means the world in the eyes of a work-at-home person who spends so much time isolated. All it takes sometimes is for someone to say "You're really good at what you do."

How To Take Off Work for the Summer

2007-08-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

I write this near the end of August, realizing that the last time I posted here was in early July. Pretty pathetic, huh? I guess I could tell you how my absence from writing here is an example of the work from home, work for yourself lifestyle. I mean, the reason I haven't written is because I spent most of July traveling with my kids and most of August getting the kids started in school. I haven't really worked the online biz so much this summer. And that's kinda normal for me...summertime always seems to entice me to do pretty much anything except work! Being self-employed - and having an internet-based business - means I can work from anywhere (even from the beach watching my boys with their cousin (below), or not. This summer was more not than work. It's great to be my own boss! If you want that kind of decision making power for yourself, start your own business -- Check out cherylsweb.com for ideas and inspiration!

Independence

2007-07-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

For my American readers, Happy Fourth of July! Today is the day the US celebrates its independence as a nation, but I also celebrate this day on a more personal level. I no longer am shackled to a job that calls the shots for me. I no longer have a long, frustrating commute. Do you work for people who do not respect or appreciate you? For too little pay? Do you dream of being free of their schedule and their goals? Do you resent having to ask permission to be off work because your kid is sick? Or even because you want the afternoon to take the kids swimming or something? Do you resent having to have your kids in camps and day care all summer because you are working? As you reflect on independence today, consider declaring your own independence. Think about how you might do that, what you might do to have that independence that I personally believe everyone should have. Too many people in this world work miserable jobs for miserable pay but never do anything to change their circumstances. Be different. Take action. Today. I did, and as a result of that, July 4th is only one of 365 days in a year that I have my own independence. You can do it too. Get ideas and inspiration at http://www.cherylsweb.com/.

Are we really entrepreneurs?

2007-06-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

I still have a hard time referring to myself as an "entrepreneur." I mean, it sounds so not me. I'm just a mom who works from home, you know? The word entrepreneur conjures up these images of business men in suits and high-level deals and stuff like that to me. So there's a lesson in that. All us moms at home who are somehow managing to balance work and life - and using that terminology is wrong in itself because work is merely a PART of life - but we are the true pioneers and entrepreneurs, those of us who do it all, not just the business part.

And we do. In spite of the subtle push-off vibes we get from people who innocently ask "and what do you do?" to our response "I work from home." I find personally that that is about when I can just see the interest in me just fizzle in their eyes, like a light bulb dying out.

But for some reason I just can't quite bring myself to say "I'm an internet entrepreneur!" It just sounds so.... pompous or something. It ain't me. But then it is, because it is exactly what I do for a living, at least part of it. I tend to focus on one client and the work I do for them, and the client I focus on depends on who's asking me what I do.

However, maybe it's time to stand up and proclaim it. Maybe we all should. Stop shrinking from your greatness and from the things you do that are wonderful. Because you and I both know that we climb mountains every day and we should be proud of ourselves for hitting that summit time after time after time.

Thoughts on Working at Home

2007-05-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well I have been bad lately, not keeping up with my work and boy is it showing in my bottom line. Bill time really opens up the eyes regarding progress and income. So I've learned an important lesson this month about discipline and I thought I'd share my thoughts about that with you.

When you work from home, unless you have a traditional type job with specific hours, you can fall prey to the "put-it-off-until-later" syndrome... especially during times of change like holidays or summer vacations. Unless someone is making you accountable, like an employer or a client who expects a deliverable in a certain period of time, it is easy to let things slide when you feel like taking a break. My goal was to post a review of a work at home resource here a minimum of once a week, and you see how well I've done with that.... The kids got out of school and I've had a couple other personal/fun things going on and as a result, work was put on the back burner.

Now, to a degree, that's life. I mean, even in a "real" job, we all need days off sometimes. But we know that we won't have a job for long if we take too many days off. This applies to home business as well. If ya don't work it, it shrivels up and dies. When you work for yourself and have no accountability (no one is looking for your progress but you), you HAVE to have a fire under your hiney to get stuff done. You have to have a sense of urgency, balanced with a sense of what is actually possible in any given day. But urgency nonetheless.

I read once that a sense of urgency is one of the traits of successful people. So starting today, I am feeling urgent about getting some of my projects farther along than they are. I'll let you know how it goes. And, please, let me know how you are doing with your work at home business or search.

Work at Home Resource Review: Site Build It!

2007-05-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

Site Build It! (SBI) is an incredible way to build a website and build a business. I am currently using SBI to build two sites. I bought SBI several years ago and let my ownership lapse because at the time (as a pro site designer) I felt the SBI interface was too clunky and wanted to do all of my own coding. I was SO wrong about that! Firstly, new features have been added to SBI and secondly, there is SO MUCH that goes on "behind the scenes," like optimization for building traffic, that the designer (front-end) person in me didn't see before. SBI gives you a step by step blueprint to build a site that makes money for you - and you can do this even with ZERO experience!

Check out Site Build It!

Free International Phone Calls

2006-10-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Is this for real? A friend (yes a real one) said it worked for her to call a relative overseas. So I'm putting the info here on the blog to benefit anyone who happens to read it here :)

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/09pogues-posts-4/

Want an income producing website?

2006-09-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, so one of the truly most useful and informative ebooks (if not THE most useful and informative) out there is now FREE! Yikes! It's Make Your Site Sell and it is the ebook I used to build my Party Planning Ideas site http://www.party-planning-ideas.com. It essentially is 10 steps - some more intensive than others - but 10 Steps to building a site that makes money. I would suggest grabbing this FREE ebook NOW and implementing the 10 Steps as soon as possible - Just go here http://www.cherylsweb.com/r/myss.html to download it. And please, when you get your site built, let me know!

Forgot to mention

2006-09-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that I am also working on my http://www.cherylsweb.com site although nothing visible has changed yet. I have struggled with NOT wanting to do this for such a long time but I keep coming round to it so YES it will be about working from home. I just don't want my site to be lumped in with all the other crap sites out there about jumping on the latest new scheme to suck your money away like a vacuum. There are a few high quality sites out there but far too few so that's my justification for going in this direction. I only want to offer real advice and resources for finding a job or starting a business to work from home - REAL advice for REAL people in the REAL world.

Almost Halloween Time!

2006-09-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Long time no post, eh? Sorry about that. I've been crushed with lots of things... work, personal stuff. However online I am ready to start building something worthwhile. I'm starting with a site I started and stopped a while back but now I want to really turn it into something. It's a party planning site and one reason I want to focus on it is it is one way to focus in on fun times - the times we work for, time to party down! So, with Halloween coming up, have you thought about your plans? I wrote a cool article about a Murder Mystery Halloween, if you're interested

http://www.party-planning-ideas.com/themes/murder-mystery-halloween.html

Goal Setting

2006-06-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

I can't remember where I read this but it is basically a way to set goals in seven major areas of life:

1. Financial (income, savings)
2. Physical (health, appearance)
3. Personal Development (education, skills, knowledge)
4. Family (relationships, children)
5. Spiritual (church, personal)
6. Social (community involvement, friends)
7. Career (ambitions)

Basically you list the goals you'd like to accomplish

(a) In Five Years
(b) In One Year
With the ultimate short term goal of starting TODAY

IQ Test - Interesting Idea

2006-06-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting article with an idea about a woman who landed a job by including the results of an IQ test she had taken with her application. Hmm. Interesting. Check it out yourself
http://www.workaholics4hire.com/Article_Amazing-Success-Story-Work-At-Home-Mom-Beats-Competition-Free-IQ-Test.htm

Dialing 411 for free

2006-06-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

I hope this is true:

No charge for directory assistance Phone companies are charging us $1.00 or more for 411 / information calls when they don't have to. When you need to use the 411 / information option,
simply dial 1-800-FREE-411 or 1 800 373 3411 without incurring a charge. Works on home phones and cellphones

Always Eat Breakfast

2006-06-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

...and if you can add a grapefruit to your morning meal, apparently it can help you to lose weight.

Negative Calorie Foods

2006-06-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where I got this but it was a note in my drafts:

There are several negative calorie foods. This means that you use more calories to digest and absorb them than are contained in the portion. Examples are celery, leeks, apples, kiwis, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and strawberries.

Fiber soaks up fat. It also helps in the absorption of nutrients and elimination of wastes. A high fiber diet also helps reduce your risk of bowel cancer, diabetes, gallstones, and varicose veins.

A thought on goals

2006-06-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

I have heard over and over again that focusing on your goals by reading, reading it out loud, visualizing it, keeping your goals posted near you to remind you what you want, that all of these things can help to catapult you to success.

For me I guess the key is to set the goals!

Travel Tips

2006-06-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

A while back I read something in Reader's Digest and I have this on my computer with a note that it is from Reader's Digest. I am sorry I didn't write down what issue it is from but here is the info:

Travel Tips
* check gas prices http://www.gaspricewatch.com, http://www.gasbuddy.com
* compare hotels in 105 countries - http://www.travelaxe.com
* Book hotel rooms directly with the hotel and save
* Instead of a hotel, trade homes or just rent one at - http://www.homelink.org, http://www.intervac-online.com, http://www.homeexchange.com
* take advantage of city passes, passes that offer discounts on tourist attractions - http://www.citypass.com, http://www.europeancitycards.com
* get an annual national parks pass http://www.nationalparks.org for just $50
* check into local memberships and passes
* theme park info - http://www.themeparkinsider.com

Farmer's Markets

2006-06-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like fresh fruits and veggies. Growing up in MD, we had a big garden down at the bottom of our yard, not to mention my Granny's garden in Georgia. We'd go there summers and for snacks I'd literally go pick a cucumber out of the garden and sit on her back porch steps and just eat it. I gotta say, fresh stuff fresh from the garden, there's nothing like it. I no longer have a garden but I go to Farmer's Markets for some awesome stuff:

Find local farmers markets for fresh produce here:
http://www.localharvest.org

or Farmers Market links at http://www.ams.usda.gov

Road Food

2006-06-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

This site is just too cool, especially for people like me who LOVE a road trip, and love to travel. I have driven cross country four times, down the CA coast, from Canada to Florida on the east coast, and from AZ to CA several times. Also, I have travelled pretty extensively around the US and even a little out of the country as well. And I never get tired of finding a local hangout. One most memorable place I love is Mother's in New Orleans. I always get the jambalaya. YUM.

Check the site out and bookmark it for your next trip!

are mind and body the same thing?

2006-06-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

I get Matt Furey's emails and although I am anything but an exercise guru, my intentions are good and that's the best I can say right now. However, sometimes what he writes I find incredibly inspiring so I will be posting some of what inspires me here. Such as a message he sent out last December 20, 2005. In this message he proposes that the mind and body are the same and that the more you conquer yourself through exercise, the more you can accomplish in other areas of your life. I believe him too. I can tell when I'm in top form and my mind the clearest - when I have been diligently (read: consistently) working out and eating at least mostly "right." A long time ago for a number of years I was a vegetarian who hiked (walked in the woods!) pretty frequently and I remember feeling like my blood was... clean or something. It's hard to explain but after I became a vegetarian, I could actually feel the absense of fatty stuff in my veins or something.

Anyway, here are a few comments from Matt's post:

The purpose of exercise is to increase awareness of your thoughts - and of your feelings - and of how you look, move, stretch, and so on. Those who follow what I'm talking about KNOW that you can eliminate and banish fear via exercise, not to mention depression and a host of other negatives. How do you do it. By plowing through the mental "stuff" that comes up while you train - and by paying attention to your feelings and where they manifest in your body.

He also mentions that if you think while you are exercising about being tired, it will wear you out, but if you turn your thoughts around to positive things like "it feels good to stretch, to push" you can literally reach a new plane of fitness.

And if you can do that with exercise, you can do that with any other part of your life too.

Sounds good to me!
Check Matt Furey's stuff out here: http://www.mattfurey.com

continuing

2006-06-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is a test to see if I put the link thingie in the right place.