America's Home
January 1, 2001


In this issue:
1.  A note from the editor
2.  In The Spotlight: Are You Really Committed To Living Your 
Dreams?
3.  What's New At 2Work-At-Home.com?
4.  Featured Article- A Goal Is A Dream With A Deadline
5.  Featured Article- Working? Out of the Home???
6.  Great Homebased Business Idea


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1.  A note from the editor
---------------------------------------------

As I put together this issue, Ive been thinking alot about goals 
and commitments (just as many of you have, Im sure).

The start of a new year always nudges us to reflect on what we 
hope to accomplish in the future, how we feel about where we are 
now, and what we can do to attain our goals.

And so, in this months issue you will find 2 articles that focus 
on the process of making and achieving our goals.

“Are You Really Committed To Living Your Dreams”, by Deborah 
Brown, helps us to see the difference between talking about 
goals - and moving toward them.

In “A goal is a dream with a deadline”, Cheryline Lawson shares 
the recipe for success - and how just having the desire to 
achieve a goal is not enough.

For each of you:  I hope this year will bring you peace, 
happiness and security, and that you reach the goals that mean 
the most to you.

Happy New Year,

Sharon Davis
Editor, 2Work-At-Home.com


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2.  In The Spotlight
---------------------------------------------

Are You Really Committed To Living Your Dreams?
by Deborah Brown

Have you committed to your dreams or are you still
talking about them? The answer to this question will
make the difference between living your dreams today
or one fictitious day in the future.

So what's keeping you from making the commitments
necessary to live your dreams? Are you feeling
overwhelmed? Are you afraid to take on more things to
do?  Are you unable to try again because you were
unsuccessful in the past? All these things are reasons
that keep you stuck in one place and give you
permission not to try again. You don't know what you
can accomplish until you give it a shot. You have no
idea how powerful you really are. If you really let
that in, you would be unstoppable.

But what do you do? The answer is simple. You say what
you are committed to, then you go for it!  This is how
your dreams become reality versus this
unaccomplishable thing that only happens to other
people.

So, How Can You Get Committed?  See The
Characteristics Of Committed People Below:

1. Committed People Make Commitments:

They stick with their commitments because they said
they would. Words such as maybe, should, or can't are
absent from their vocabulary.

2. Committed People Believe They Can Fulfill Their
Commitments:

They can visual the finish line and believe they will
accomplish their goal.  Because their beliefs are so
strong, not accomplishing their goal isn t even part
of the equation.

3. Committed People Say What They Are Committed To:

They bring their dreams into reality simply by using
the power of language.  It s amazing what they
accomplish once they say their commitments out loud.

4. Committed People Invest In Their Commitments:

They invest their time, money, and energy into their
commitments. Their commitments become so important
that they rework their lives around them.

5. Committed People Are Realistic About Their
Commitments:

They give themselves permission to explore different
avenues and are nice to themselves along the way.
Sure, there may be setbacks, but mistakes are viewed
as opportunities rather than something to avoid at all
costs.

6. Committed People Form A Bond With Their
Commitments:

Their commitments become a part of who they are, not
something they are trying to accomplish on the side.
This approach makes their commitments fun and not
something that they “have to” or “should” be doing.

7. Committed People Are Passionate About Their
Commitments:

Their passion touches, moves and inspires others
around them.  This passion carries them through to the
end.

So make the commitments necessary to live your dreams
and don't stop along the way!  In return, you will
discover that you have the freedom and power to make
your dreams a reality.  And, isn't this the reason you
got out of bed today?

-----------------------------------------------------
Deborah Brown is a noted personal coach and
motivational speaker that supports people in removing
obstacles so they can reach their goals and
surpass their dreams.  In 90 days, Deborah has helped
clients locate careers they love, find intimate
relationships, and have their needs met by family,
friends, and co-workers just by asking. Having a life
you love starts when you believe you can.  Deborah
helps you believe that you can. To Learn More Visit:
http://www.surpassyourdreams.com, send an e-mail
to info@surpassyourdreams.com or call (212) 586-0787
Today!
-----------------------------------------------------



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3.  What's New?
---------------------------------------------

Business owners...did you know that we have many ways to help 
you to advertise your business -- and that many of them are 
free?  Visit our Promote Your Business page for the scoop on how 
you can put our high volume traffic to work for you.
http://www.2work-at-home.com/promote.shtml
........................................................

Have you been to our Favorite Sites Directory lately?  You can 
visit and rate over 180 websites in well-organized categories.
http://www.2work-at-home.com/resources/
........................................................



---------------------------------------------
4.  Featured Article
---------------------------------------------


A goal is a dream with a deadline


Success is what you make it.  It is a fact that most people want 
to be successful in life but not all people will be successful.  
Success is much more than just a thought and it takes a special 
kind of person to be successful.  Do you have that special 
quality and are you willing to develop such quality for success?

No matter what dreams you want to accomplish in life; you must 
be prepared to put some plan into action and to stick with it.

POSSIBLITY + RESPONSIBILITY = SUCCESS

Owning a business or finding a home-based job is a possibility 
for most people but this possibility cannot be attained without 
the responsibility of taking some action. Therefore you must be 
an "active" person to become a "successful" person.

Having the information and knowledge is not enough.  You must be 
able to initiate and utilize the information. A passive 
individual is one who truly wants to succeed but does not have a 
passion for success.

PASSION + ACTION = SUCCESS

Are you passionate about your dreams or are you a passive person 
toward your goals?

Let us look at two different scenarios and tell me, if any, 
which one best describes you.

SCENARIO #1

Jane just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.  She really doesn't 
want to leave her baby and go back to a full-time job.  She 
tries desperately to find a home-based job or business 
opportunity.  She ends up spending her money on a variety of 
programs - program after program. She tries working at some of 
them for a while and gets discouraged and bored and just moves 
on to the next.

Jane is taking action but she does not have a passion for the 
actions that she is taking.  She has the information but is not 
using it wisely and is not taking responsibility of the 
possibility of becoming successful.  Her behavior would be 
considered passive because action requires passion to breed 
success.

Are you like Jane?

SCENARIO # 2

Dave is tired of his nine to five job and realizes that the 
knowledge and experience that he has gained over the years would 
allow him to do something about his long time dreams of owning 
his own business. Day by day this passion increases.  He begins 
by setting goals and making plans.  He takes a business class at 
the local community college.  He calls up the Small Business 
Association for advice and information.  He writes a business 
and marketing plan.  He has a small savings but does not want to 
use up his savings so he decides to continue in his job while he 
applies for a Small Business loan for his home-based business.  
He begins to get business through word of mouth and referrals 
and gradually he eases his way out of the day job by working 
three days a week until he makes the full transition.  It wasn't 
easy but with goals and plans, he was able to succeed.

Dave had a passion and taking action helped him to succeed.  Are 
you like Dave or do you want to be like Dave?  Are you willing 
to make changes to develop a plan that will help you to succeed 
or are just about happy with where you are right now?

What is your passion?  Is it a home-based job or a home-based 
business?

To land a home-based job, take an active approach.  Begin by 
searching the Internet and search engines for information but be 
careful because there are numerous scams out there.  Look for 
keywords like *freelance* *telecommute*  or * home employment.*  
Be sure to search with and without the wildcard (*). There are 
also numerous electronic books, websites and ezines on this 
subject.  Here are a few:

http://dotcommommies.com
http://www.momplanet.com
http://2work-at-home.com
http://www.clubmom.com
http://tjobs.com
http://moneymakingmommy.com
http://homejobplus.com
http://webzone2000.freeservers.com
http://www.realjobsonline.com
http://www.workathomeparents.com


Ezines to subscribe to are:
Freejobs4u-subscribe@topica.com
Momplanet-subscribe@egroups.com
Get some great business ideas. TO SUBSCRIBE go to: 
http://www.niftybusinessideas.com and fill out the form. It only 
takes a few seconds.
Homejobsplus-subscribe@listbot.com
Subscribe Url: http://netemployment.listbot.com
Absolute Work-At-Home Solutions - AWAHS-subscribe@listbot.com
realjobs2000-subscribe@listbot.com
WAHMPRENEUR News Magazine
Business news for women who work where they live - 
www.wahmpreneur.com
Web Wealth Gram -  webwealth-subscribe@topica.com
Rim Digest - To subscribe:  
mailto:jtd@rimdigest.com?subject=subscribe

Electronic books:
How to find legitimate home employment at http://www.amazon.com  
(just do a search using the same topic)
10 Steps to a successful home-based job -  
http://startbiz.hypermart.net/10Steps.doc
MARKETING E-BOOKS: 
http://webzone2000.freeservers.com/ebooks.html?120100
FREE BUSINESS E-BOOKS: http://startbiz.hypermart.net
Go to Amazon.com and search for other work at home topics and 
see what you come up with.

To start a home-based business, you must first have a product or 
service.  You can start with just a hobby or something you love 
to do.  You can sell the products of manufacturers and have them 
drop ship it to your customers.  Just to give you an example:  I 
ordered a catalog from a jewelry manufacturer ( I love jewelry) 
and I am doing well selling these jewelry offline, so much that 
I am thinking of putting it online as well.  All I do is show 
the catalog and the company drop ships my orders.

Go to http://startbiz.hypermart.net/ebay.zip to download and 
find a list of manufacturers. Send them each a letter requesting 
a list of their products.  If you offer services, you may want 
to first get the word out to your friends and family who are 
your best referrals to begin. Get flyers and business cards out. 
 If you are web savvy, create a web site and direct your 
customers to your site. Add your URL to your business cards and 
depending on your budget, get a yellow page or directory 
listing.  I will be writing my next article on "Shoestring 
marketing secrets" so be sure to get this article into your 
hands.

Finally, success is measured by what you do and not what you say 
you will do.  Set your deadline of when you would like to 
achieve your goals. Today is your responsibility to take action 
because tomorrow is only a possibility and still a dream.


Copyright (c) 2000 Cheryline Lawson

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------

Editor's Note: Cheryline Lawson is author, publisher and editor 
of two excellent ezines and several electronic books that show 
the proven methods of landing a legitimate home-based job in as 
little as one week.  Get more information by heading over to
http://internet-home-employment.net.





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---------------------------------------------
5.  Featured Article
---------------------------------------------

Working? Out of the Home???

by Judy Gruen

I dont often feel like physically assaulting another member of 
my gender, but one time I had difficulty subduing what 
sociologists now call "rage."

At the time of this almost-crime, I had been a stay-at-home 
mother and freelance editor for nine years. I had worked fairly 
regularly until one day I found myself with three little boys 
aged four and younger and I began to have trouble stringing 
together more than three coherent sentences at a time.

But when a friend asked me to fill in as his publications 
editor, I jumped at the chance. After all, it had been years 
since I had a reason to put on lipstick and a nice dress every 
day, or hang around the copy machine and wait for some juicy 
gossip to waft by the Mr. Coffee pot.

A few weeks into the assignment, I walked into "my office" one 
morning as usual to find a young woman planted there. She had 
already decorated the place with a display of her favorite 
magazine, which had some name like "Edgy," on the credenza. I 
discovered I felt alarmingly territorial.

She introduced herself to me as the new editor. No one had told 
me my days of looking out a big fifth-story glass window were 
about to screech to a halt.

I took an instant dislike to this interloper. She had an 
attitude, typical of the very young, not to mention black nail 
polish and lipstick in a creepy shade of brown. And if her 
display of "Edgy" magazine was any kind of statement, I 
suspected that her moral compass had swung wildly off course. 
The only thing the man on the magazine cover wore was an 
expression of practiced surliness and hair sculpted into 
something that looked like dangerous implements. The article 
titles advertised on the cover contained many unrepeatable words.

"Well," Ms. Edgy said, "this job must really have been a feather 
in your cap."

In case you havent guessed, this is the part where I really 
wanted to punch her lights out.

"Oh, is that so?" I said, getting in her face. "It just so 
happens, you little info-babe wannabe, that I was charging 
executive lunches on my company American Express Gold card when 
you were still dabbing Clearasil on your zits. I used to hire 
and fire entire editorial production staffs back when you were 
bumming cigarettes in your scummy high school bathroom hoping 
not to get suspended by the principal. Meanwhile, Ive been doing 
really important work, like raising children. And, as for your 
own taste in publications," (here I gestured dramatically 
towards her magazines), "that is NOT how one spells the word 
fornicate"

Ms. Edgy did not respond. This is because, in all honesty, I 
didnt say any of that. But I thought it, and only good breeding, 
instilled by my parents, prevented me from spewing forth my 
venomous feelings.

I cant remember exactly what I did say, but if she had the 
perceptive powers of a Q-tip or higher, she would have absorbed 
the meaning of my withering glare. After staring her down for 
what I hoped was a sufficiently humbling period, I stalked out 
of the office and into the bathroom, where, to my horror, I 
discovered that the hem of my skirt had come undone. I had 
stormed away from this black leather, mini-skirted malignancy 
dragging a trail of thread behind me.

Still, I had fun at my temp job while it lasted. After all, I 
didnt have the distractions and worries of working from home, 
such as having one of my progeny answer the phone and tell my 
client that I was "making" and couldnt talk right now. This kind 
of thing is an occupational hazard for parents working from 
home. Once, for example, I answered the phone while holding a 
toddler in the other arm- a usual and customary practice. This, 
too, was a business call, and no sooner had my client and I 
exchanged pleasantries than my daughter unleashed a mammoth 
belch into the mouthpiece of the phone.

"That wasnt me!" I cried in alarm. "It was my baby!"

"Oh I understand," my client said. Did I detect a wariness in 
his tone? Or was it just my own hard-earned paranoia? Even 
though we kept working together, I always wondered if he had 
believed me, or if he thought I was an irredeemably vulgar lush 
with a penchant for spotting dangling participles.

Needless to say, a business contact who lives in a far-flung 
time zone and with whom you have played phone tag for two weeks 
will undoubtedly finally reach you at the worst possible time, 
such as when you have just unhooked your nursing bra to feed 
your hungry infant, or finally found a moment to sit down with 
another child to help with homework.

Ive always laughed at womens magazines that featured articles on 
how mothers can run businesses effectively from home. Youve seen 
them; they have these absurd photos of a mother sitting at her 
(neat!) computer desk, her ear clamped to the phone, and her 
toddler sitting serenely on her lap as she works! They must use 
sophisticated digital processing to create this kind of shot, 
because lets face it, no baby who isnt sleeping or drugged will 
sit in front of a computer keyboard and not start jamming graham 
crackers into the disk drive.

Still, no office environment is glitch-free, and I dont regret 
having plied my trade from home for these many years. Besides, I 
have moved up in the world, even in my home office. When I first 
became a mother and we lived in a tiny condo, I worked in a 
corner of our Lilliputian bedroom. Later, I graduated to a 
larger corner of the living room, where I sat wedged between the 
wall and the sideboard. Only recently have I joined the big 
leagues of working at home. Coffee cup in hand, I trudge through 
the morning traffic in the hallway, encountering occasional 
gridlock by the laundry room, and through the back door of the 
house. I go down the steps and take eleven strides to my real 
office in our converted garage. Here I have an enormous desk - 
clearly a rebellion from my years of sitting at desks the size 
of a phone booth.

But at least here, I have no fear of young editorial trespassers 
wearing black nail polish.

Excerpted from Carpool Tunnel Syndrome: Motherhood as Shuttle 
Diplomacy by Judy Gruen (Heaven Ink Publishing, 224 pages, 
softcover, $12.95).  A mother of four, Gruen has written for 
Womans Day, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and many 
other publications. To order Carpool Tunnel Syndrome, call 
toll-free 1-800-836-1021. Also available through bookstores and 
dot.com booksellers.




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6.  Great Homebased Business Idea
---------------------------------------------

How about starting your own Travel Agency?  If you enjoy travel, 
helping others and have good service skills, put those traits to 
work!

==========>For more information:

How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888290005/americashomebas
e

Home-Based Travel Agent : How to Cash in on the Exciting New 
World of Travel Marketing
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1887140107/americashomebas
e

For 100's more great ideas, visit the Ideas pages.  We've added 
lots of new ideas! http://www.2work-at-home.com/ideas.shtml

For more Business Opportunity ideas, visit the Business Opps 
section http://www.2work-at-home.com/opps.html


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