Google visits to website

Like I said before, I'm not all that hard to please. I'm excited because Google is now visiting/spidering AllAboutFastpitch.com more often now. Before it was once every 3-4 days. Now Google comes by every day! Google also now "knows" about more of my incoming links and has also indexed more of my pages than before. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction to ranking higher in Google searches.

I know I always talk about Mom Masterminds, but joining MM has really truly been the difference in kick starting my online business and getting things moving in the right direction. It's not an "overnight fix" but is, in my opinion, an invaluable resource and mentoring tool. I can't believe that once I "graduate" in a year, I'll be able to continue using MM resources for FREE! It's well worth the cost and my increase in business more than pays for my Mom Masterminds membership.

Mailing list growing

I'm so glad I signed up with Aweber to help me manage my mailing list. I never thought it would be growing this fast. I know it's not growing as quickly as other people's mailing list, but it's definitely growing faster than I ever thought it would. I thought I might have about 30 people by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure I'll have over 30 by mid-October! I'm getting an average of about 3 sign ups per day ~ it's such a cool thing for me to see another sign up notification in my inbox. LOL ~ see, I'm not all that difficult to please. :) It's amazing how a small change to the way I present signing up for my mailing list has affected the number of people joining. When I first added that option to my website I had no sign ups for 3 weeks. I made the change a voila! Average of 3 per day. Thanks again Mom Masterminds for the tips on increasing subscribers.

New Websites up and running

Of course, I'm continuing to work on these sites, but they are up and running. The first site has to do with our dogs. We have pictures and profiles of them because we stud the males. Anyway ~ that site is www.808BluePitbull.com ~ yes, we have pitbulls. In fact, we have 3 of them. One female and two males. They are all blue and have great temperments.

The other site is the one I wrote about in the last post. I built it over the weekend and am still looking for a few things I can add to improve it. So far though, I like the look of it. That site is www.my-custom-silicone-bracelet.com. I think it's a fun idea and I'm actually looking into doing something with custom silicone bracelets for business promotion. Because of that idea, I'm not looking into different offline promotional opportunities for both AllAboutFastpitch.com and www.808BluePitbull.com ~ we'll see how that goes.

If you told me 6 months ago that I would have built 3 websites by the end of the year, I wouldn't have believed you for a second. Now I really feel like a "Website WAHM"!

Gas UPdate and New Site Coming

Well the same gallon of gas I bought back on Labor Day for $2.99 (less than two weeks ago) is now $3.72! Supposedly, we can expect a nice drop in price next week, so we'll see. Again, this is just one more thing that keeps me motivated to become a full time WAHM!

Today I started building a new website. As soon as I put a few finishing touches on it I'll announce it here. Of course, I'll then have to work on getting the word out about the site. Hopefully, it works out well. I'm sure there is lots I can do to make it even better, but for just setting it up, I think it's on the right track. We'll see what feedback I get from Mom Masterminds members before I "launch" the site. I love being able to run things by the ladies there. They are always full of great suggestions and keep me from wasting time on things that don't work.

So I'll be back when the new site is ready and I'll announce it here!

WAHM Serious - My Inspiration

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
Albert Schweitzer

Because of a quote like this and a story along the same lines, I took a good hard look at my life and what I do. Yes, I have a good job that pays the bills and gives me the scheduling flexibility that I want. However, it's not my passion. I don't wake up every morning excited because I'm going to go to work. I'm sure you can relate. Is that where I wanted to be indefinitely? If not, when was I going to make a change? Did I think that the perfect job or opportunity was going to find me one day?

The story that influenced me was about millionaires and how many of them went into the same kinds of businesses as their peers. The significant difference, however, was that they loved the business they were in. That passion for their business caused them to keep learning, keep improving, and keep developing when all others had already lost interest. That passion is what carried them further than their competitors. I realized that though I'm good at my job, I could probably be exceptional at something I really enjoy. That's why I decided it was time for me to look for other things I could do. That is why I got serious about my website. It's also why, when Rick Wire, President of Dynamite Sports asked me if I wanted to work with them, I said, "Yes." I never cared much for speaking in front of people and I never cared much for sales. But because I love what I do, both with AllAboutFastpitch.com and with Dynamite Sports I don't mind going outside of my "comfort zone".

Website WAHM Signs Up with AWeber

Since I'm now implementing the "newsletter" part of my Fastpitch Website, I needed a good program that would allow my to create a sign-up form and manage my list. At first I tried a few free ones. Well, one of those had a limit to the number of people that could join my list. I only had 3 with that program and I was already at 25% of my capacity. Time to change real fast! Then I tried another freebie www.ymlp.com ~ it was alright. I could easily customize my forms, but I did NOT like what my visitors saw once they hit the submit button (ads and such). So I gave in and signed up with AWeber ~ a company recommended by a number of ladies at Mom Masterminds. AWeber says they have Fast, reliable, and greater than 99.34% email deliverability. So we'll see how things go with AWeber ~ one thing that I DON'T like is that my existing subscribers, who have all already confirmed their subscription with me, must do so again in order for me to add them to my AWeber list.

Website WAHM deemed "Expert Author"

I've been deemed "Expert Author" by EzineArticles.com. Now I need to work on submitting more articles there. So far, my article titled "7 Good Reasons to Get Your Child Involved in Sports" is included in their database of free articles. I'm now putting the finishing touches on my first Fastpitch Newsletter, then I'm back to working on more articles!

Website look on a Mac - Yikes!

I had the opportunity this weekend to take a look at my website on an iMac at my MIL house. Yikes! Because I gave the website width a certain value, the site was too wide for an iMac monitor. You had to scroll to the right to see everything. Not good at all, very unprofessional. So this morning I made changes to each page and it should be displaying better on different monitors now. Whew!

I'm also very excited because 4 visitors signed up to receive mailings at my site! It's unbelievable how much difference a few words can make. Again, I have to credit Mom Masterminds ~ it's because of the resources there that I was able to see that I needed to make a change and that I knew how to improve. What a difference. I had a link to sign up for mailing for weeks now and nothing....after I made my changes I had 4 sign-ups in less than 48 hours ~ no exaggeration. I even changed my sign-up process from a single opt-in to a double opt-in and received confirmation today from all four people that they did in fact want to begin receiving mailings from me! Now I just need to put the finishing touches my newsletter and send these people their very first mailing from AllAboutFastpitch.com.

My next goals are:
1. finish a press release
2. finish another article

I also really need to get back on track with my Dynamite Sports work. I've sort of put it on the back burner with all the work I've been doing on my site. I actually have a presentation to do this evening at 7:15 for a local soccer club. Hopefully that goes well. I've also learned sales tips from Mom Masterminds that I can use with my Dynamite Sports work. I hope to incorporate those tips at tonight's meeting.

I'll be back later with more WAHM news!

Why be a WAHM?

I just added another item to my list of reasons why I want to be a full-time WAHM.

Gas Prices!!!

On Labor Day I filled up the gas tank for my car. As we drove away from the station, we saw an employee updating the pricing for gas at that station. I filled up at $2.99/gallon, they were changing the price for that same grade of gas to $3.11/gallon. By the following afternoon it was at $3.26/gallon!

On top of that, my day job office location moved just over a month ago. Instead of working 13 traffic-free miles from home, I now commute 20+ miles one way and at least a quarter of those miles are no longer traffic-free! It's not only the gas that bugs me, it's the time. My total commute time prior to the move was about 45 minutes. Now we're talking double that. That's another 45 minutes - 1 hour that I spend away from my family each working day.

Just more motivation for me to work at becoming a full-time WAHM.

A wahMom's Goals for her kids

As a member of a fastpitch forum, I was once asked, "What are your long term goals for your children?" Well, seeing as how it was a fastpitch forum and I've been involved with fastpitch softball since the age of 9, it surprised me that not one softball-related thought came to mind.

The goals that did come to mind came quickly and certainly. I want my children to be independent and responsible. I want my children to be able to stand on their own and not have to depend on anyone else for survival or success. I want them to be responsible enough to make good decisions and avoid careless actions and words. I want them to be responsible enough to adequately handle any consequences that occur because of their own choices instead of looking for someone to have pity on them because they are in a situation that is a direct result of the decisions they made. Integrity? Honor? Decency? I feel those traits are all bundled into someone who is independent and responsible. Those are my long term goals for each of my children. I just hope I raise them well enough to reach those goals.

New WAHM blog - introduction

Aloha and welcome to my "Website WAHM" blog. Please feel free to comment on any post and share your own experiences as you wish. From one mom to another (and yes, to dads too), I hope you enjoy the stories of my challenges and triumphs as a part-time working mom/part-time WAHM striving to be a full-time WAHM!

So you can get to know me just a bit, here are some of my "stats":
Name: Stacie Mahoe
Age: 28
DH: Allen
Children: 3 beautiful girls ages 8, 6 tomorrow, and 4 ~ 1 sweet but spoiled son who just made 9 months.
Day job: Operations Manager at a wholesale company
WAHM ventures:

• AllAboutFastpitch.com - Owner
• Dynamite Sports - Speaker
• Arbonne International - Independent Consultant

All About Fastpitch and Dynamite Sports are my true passions. I rank All About Fastpitch first mostly because it's my baby ~ I built it and developed it myself. Eventually, I'd like it to add some revenue, but Dynamite Sports is what I want to grow into my full time income. Arbonne International I stay with because I personally use the product so for me it's an added benefit to also be a consultant as well as a customer. I still work on it, but that's not where my focus lies at this point.

As you can see, just like you, I'm a busy Mom! I know once my kids get older and are all involved in different activities it will only get worse. I want to be there for those activities though, so that's why I'm working so hard on becoming a full time WAHM!

I finally took the leap and joined Mom Masterminds because I kept seeing links and banners that said "if your serious about your business" get involved with the business coaching and mentoring at Mom Masterminds . Well, I kept saying that I wanted to be a full-time WAHM, but was I actually doing anything about it? Joining Mom Masterminds was my first step in taking serious action in growing WAHM business. It forced me to make a true commitment to myself and to being a WAHM.

For those of you who are in the same situation as me and want to make a real go of your business but aren't sure how, or maybe you have a business going but you want to take it to the next level, Mom Masterminds ~ it's a great place to learn and grow! The group there has really been instrumental in "walking me through" new ideas and situations ~ it's a great support system to have.