For my out-of-the-home job I work at a financial institution. On a regular basis I am berated and yelled at by clients. While I do not enjoy being yelled at day in and day out, I have learned some techniques to deal with the small percentage of clients who are just jerks. Policies, policies, policies. Make sure you set up policies before you launch your business on how you want to handle returns, inquires, etc., and place them on a visible section of your website. Policies can always … [Continue reading...]
How To Price Items on Etsy/ Hyena Cart
May 16, 2013 by 9 Comments
Market places like Etsy and Hyena Cart have given SAHMs (stay at home moms) an amazing opportunity to explore their talents and create a micro-business. But over the years, the exhilaration of looking at unique products on Etsy has turned into despair when I look at the dismal prices sellers are charging for some stuff. I have done enough business and assessed even more opportunities to recognize when somebody is turning a REAL profit on their business and from what I see, most people … [Continue reading...]
What Is Guest Posting and Why Should I Do It?
May 15, 2013 by 16 Comments
If you have a business or blog, you should be looking into guest posting on blogs. Guest posting is when you write an article on a blog which is not your own. Guest posting is not when you write a post about your company/blog and pay for it to be featured on a blog. There is some debate amongst the blogging community on whether or not a guest poster should be paid for their post. In my opinion, guest posters should be compensated for their post but the compensation does not need to be … [Continue reading...]
Must-Follow Social Media and Blogging Websites
May 14, 2013 by 26 Comments
We at Thinking Outside The Sandbox (TOTS) try very hard to make sure TOTS has all of the information you need for your small business/blog. However, we are not experts at everything (shhh, don’t tell my husband). Here are some of the people and websites I love to watch/read to keep myself up to date on all of the changes with social media and other relevant issues. Mari Smith– Mari Smith is a Facebook expert. I have only used her free content but it is well worth the … [Continue reading...]
Announcement: TOTS’ Rebranding and Expansion.
May 13, 2013 by 6 Comments
Thinking Outside The Sandbox (TOTS) started in September 2012. We started TOTS because (as small business owners) we saw a void in the educational opportunities for small businesses. In particular the niche work at home mom segment. When I was starting my businesses I had to refer to almost 80 different websites in order to get the information I needed to Create A Facebook Fan Page, Set Up a Domain or even How To Track My Blogging Income. Having a baby at home and very limited time I was … [Continue reading...]
The Power of Commitment!
May 9, 2013 by 8 Comments
What is Commitment Really About? What does commitment mean to you? Is it doing something that you say you are going to do? If you don’t, do you make amends to either yourself, or whoever you committed to? To see the video of what happened when my son wanted to go back on his commitment click on the link below. The Power of Commitment! This came up for me when my 7-year-old son decided that he wanted to quit his hip-hop dance class that he had committed to. This brought up some … [Continue reading...]
Want To Start A Blog?- Episode 3 Having Fun With Domains
May 8, 2013 by 2 Comments
Up to this point we have gone through how to choose your blogging platform and how to install your domain. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to install wordpress I wanted to share with you some other fun things you can do with your domain. These tips are perfect if you already have a domain (existing website) and want to keep your main web address. There are three main ways to extend the life of your domain: Subdomain example ????.thinkingoutsidethesandbox.ca Create a … [Continue reading...]
