I always find great information in the newsletter every month and want to share it but can’t because it’s only available to Mom Mastermind members. So I’m happy to announce you can grab your copy of Mom Masterminds MMotivator today!

There are some things that are just easier taught at a live event and it doesn’t even have to come from one of the speakers. Take ‘advantage’ (I use that term loosely because I don’t really mean to take advantage of someone in a literal way) of all the different expertise in the attendees. You’re there to network so you’re bound to find someone that can help you.

There is always something new to be learned regardless of who you are. If you’ve stopped learning then you’ve probably stopped growing too! You’ve more than likely heard the saying there’s no obstacle greater than yourself. It’s true and especially in business! The only limits that are placed on your business are self-imposed. The Internet is a wealth of knowledge for the one who can access it, but did you ever stop to think where that knowledge was received?

If you’ve ever been to live business events more than likely some of that knowledge was received there. You’re exposed not only to people who can expand on marketing techniques that you currently utilize, but also individuals who have found new ways to harness business power.

Those who host these events are looking for the best to entice you to come. These people prove time and time again that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to business.

Here are three things you can take part in and learn from at live events:

1. Brainstorming sessions – Imagine the energy in the room when hundreds of entrepreneurs get together at tables to discuss new ways to improve each others’ businesses? Be sure to take copious notes to refer to later and get the names of everyone at the table.
2. Visit the vendor area – This is an opportunity for businesses to highlight their products and services. You can learn about new programs computer programs, business software and get to demo items right there on site.  (I have to comment about the fact that NAMS didn’t have any vendor areas. I liked that for the most part. But I would have liked to see the speakers have a place with their products set up – if they offer physical products.).
3. Keep all materials given to you – Within the pages of those handouts are vital information. Speakers may lay out for you how they go about promoting new products, implement new programs and techniques and list online resources for you. You may want to bring a tote bag or a briefcase to hold everything you will get so it is easier to reference later. (At NAMS there weren’t hardly any handouts. One of the speakers gave a handout for scheduling our time. But while they didn’t give handouts I really liked the fact that each speaker had a link to the presentation they were doing so we could follow along that way. I printed some of them out that I didn’t get very good notes on.)

When you attend a live event(s) just remember to keep an open mind. As an Army wife once told me ‘expect the unexpected’ and while that was referring to Army lifestyle it rings true for live events too! Keep your mind open and get immersed into business techniques you haven’t tried before.

P.S. Have you signed up for NAMS 4 yet? Hurry before the price goes up on March 1st!

Live events are not only a great way to meet some peeps you’ve known online for awhile but they are also a great way to network with other like minded business people!

The question is – how do you know which live event to choose?

There are so many out there that are available to attend! You need to know where to look to find the ones that are best suited for you. Here are two suggestions that will help you hear about live events:

• Forums. This was the first way I heard about the NAMS event. One of my favorite forums – Mom Masterminds – had a topic all about those members of MM that would be attending the event. This was when I first really started giving some serious thought as to whether I wanted to invest the money or not to go.
• Favorite Blogs. This is a great way to hear about upcoming live events. People are excited to go so they’re eager to share with their readers! Not to mention that most events offer an affiliate program which provides a little incentive to get the word out! This was the second way I heard about the NAMS event and probably the most influential on me. When your favorite bloggers talk about their experience with an event it’s hard to not get as excited as they are. Nicole Dean really ’showed’ her enthusiasm and excitement for NAMS through several of her blog posts.

After I made the decision to attend NAMS I started thinking about ways that the event would benefit me. It came down to two beneficial aspects:

1. Professionally. On the professional level you need to choose events that pertain to your business. It would be pointless to spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on an event that doesn’t pertain to your business. For example if your business is built around selling dog items you wouldn’t attend an event focused on cats and cat products.
2. Personally. On the personal level it boiled down to cultivating relationships on a deeper level with those I’ve known online for some years now. There were so many people going to this past NAMS event that I’ve known online for several years I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet them in person!

Maybe you’re thinking that because you’re new to online business that a live event isn’t for you. Or that maybe because you’re so new to online business that you don’t have a clue how to pick a live event to attend. Those are definitely valid thoughts but let me help you with a few suggestions on how to pick an event if your a ‘newbie’ to online business:

• Location – To help cut the cost down (live events can get expensive quick, you’ll be staying in a hotel – if you don’t live nearby (and even if you do staying at the hotel is something I’d still recommend if you can swing the cost just because there is so much networking going on after the events end for the day!) – eating out for all your meals, snacks, etc.
• Registration Costs – The cost of your ticket to attend a live event can range in price greatly. It’s hard to give a specific cost because there are so many different price points for live events. You’ll have to decide whether you can swing the cost for a high caliber event or not. Just make sure it’s one that will benefit you and your business.
• Speakers – Take a look at the lineup of speakers the event has. You’ll want to pay for an event that’s going to provide top notch, internet marketing savvy speakers. If they’re all speakers you’ve never heard of you just might want to pass. On the other hand if the speakers are some of your favorite bloggers or business owners you’ve wanted to meet you just might not want to pass up the opportunity to hear them speak and to get your questions answered.

Don’t make the decision to attend a live event harder than it needs to be! All it comes down to is gathering as much information as you can about the upcoming events (fees, locations, etc) and then sitting down and figuring out which one you can afford and which one would benefit you and your business the most!

p.s. Whether you’re a ‘newbie’ to internet marketing or a pro I recommend NAMS for your live event. It’s broken down into 3 stages – beginners, intermediates or advanced – so there’s a place for everyone!

As most of you probably already know I just recently got back from attending NAMS 3 in Atlanta, Georgia. In fact the above picture is just one of the many I’ve yet to get posted (It’s Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins and I – he totally rocked my world by the way! More on that later). It was awesome (I know I still need to get a post put together recapping my NAMS experience!). If I had let ‘fear’ hold me back I wouldn’t have attended such an amazing event!

Public speaking is a huge fear for me and I was concerned about whether or not there would be a time and place for everyone to do a quick little introduction of themselves. I actually posted on Mom Masterminds about this because I was so nervous about it (and by the way no you don’t have to do this! lol) and I had considered NOT going if we were going to have to do this.

The point of this isn’t about my fear of public speaking (it’s not just a little fear – I actually hyperventilated in one of my college classes during a presentation I had to do) but you might be impressed to know that I actually asked a question – with a stinking MICROPHONE in my face – in front of a room full of people!. It’s about I learned how valuable offline gatherings can be for someone who has an online business.

Not only do you finally get to meet so many people that you’ve probably known online for several years but the social networking aspect of it is huge. If you haven’t noticed social networking is pretty big these days, everyone is really gung go ho about it and social sites are bursting at the seams with members and new members joining daily. Social networking takes on a new expansion during in-the-flesh-and-blood live events.

What’s a Live Event?

That’s pretty self-explanatory and probably not something that needs to be explained but just in case there is someone that doesn’t quite understand what it is it’s exactly what the name implies. It’s a gathering for business (both offline and online) professionals. They’re held all over the world. It’s simply people with something to say that others want to hear forking over their time and talents to those interested. You’ll find a mixture of speakers at internet marketing live events. Those from bloggers to internet marketing gurus to coaches often speak.

Benefits of Attending

After my experience at NAMS I finally understood what others have always talked about when they mentioned the benefits of attending live events. There’s just something about being in one place with so many other people seeking the same knowledge and understanding you want. The energy is high and it’s nice to know that others ‘get’ what you’re doing with an online business. I don’t know about you but so many people around me (family and friends) just don’t have a clue when it comes to internet marketing stuff. It was so refreshing to be in a place with so many people that understood me and my business!

Here are a few things I learned attending NAMS that are benefits of attending a live event.

1. Step out of the box – your comfort zone that is. This was huge for me. You might not think this is a benefit but it is. Your business isn’t going to grow doing the same thing over and over. You need to learn new things and sometimes things are easier to pick up during a live event especially one like NAMS where you aren’t just learning but you’re actually DOING! And of course you’ll get to meet those ‘screen names’ you’ve known for so long.
2. Joint ventures. Sure you can find people to do joint ventures with online – in fact people do it all the time. But it’s easier to make the decision to joint venture with someone you’ve met in person and can get a ‘gut reaction’ about them. Talking in person with them will help you each understand the others goals/business objectives and you can then make a decision as to it would benefit you to partner with one another.
3. Build your business. There’s no better time than a live event to pass out those business cards (you do have business cards right?). Don’t expect it to build you business overnight but the opportunity to pass it along to so many people from all different walks of life but share the same goal as you – building your business – is an opportunity you don’t want to pass up. You’ll also get to take pictures with others including some of the top internet marketing gurus that speak! There’s networking opportunities during breakfast, lunch, dinner and after hours!

So if you’ve never been to a live event now you have three (and there’s so many more I could have listed!) reasons you need to make it happen! Put it on your to do list or goals list to attend a live event and start making plans to attend one. In fact, NAMS 4 is coming up soon! It’s this summer in August!

What do you say will I see you at NAMS 4?

Finally! It’s only taken me how long (oh let’s see…12 days now!) to get my NAMS post written. I’ve been that busy since getting home Tuesday night the 2nd! Let me just say that the first night we got home I couldn’t do anything except sleep. I was that exhausted! All those late nights finally caught up with me!

I don’t really know where to start. I have so many thoughts. I guess I’ll start with I’m so glad I decided that the beginner’s group was exactly where I needed to be. I was contemplating this decision because I do know some stuff about affiliate marketing but I ended up learning a lot… way more than I realized I needed to learn…from the beginners group.

My favorite thing about the workshops? The fact that we got to actually WORK on selling a product that was created right there as we sat in the audience. 5 internet marketing gurus shared their secrets about social media marketing. And while 3 sales isn’t much to brag about I was so geeked! Before NAMS I had only ever made 1 affiliate sale and that was in the course of a year! I had 3 sales within 24 hours at NAMS! It really opened my eyes to the fact that affiliate marketing is totally doable and that I can do it.

Kathleen Gage

Speaking of the 3 affiliate sales. Once I realized the winner of the sales contest had sold 26 products I started to feel like a total DORK for ‘bragging’ about my 3 sales. I was blown away when one of the speakers (who rocked the house by the way) Kathleen Gage actually took the time to send me a DM on Twitter and ask about my sales before NAMS and to tell me congratulations on those 3 sales. The fact that she took the time to actually seek me out and encourage me just kind of blew me away. I wasn’t expecting someone ‘important’ to care about the fact that I was feeling like a dork. She really made me respect her a lot more than I already did by just that one small action! Thank you Kathleen

Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins

And then there was the man who rocked my world (not like that you guys! jeez lol) Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins. I was so drawn to him. I hung on his every word. I felt like the brightest bulb in the box after hearing him speak. Suddenly so many things made sense even though I knew a lot of what he was talking about. It was just one of those things where the pieces of the puzzle finally all came together and fit and you’re like ‘oh duh’! His presentation was engaging, easy to follow and he was just great. Nuff said!

Lynn Terry

Oh man! Where do I start? I’ve ‘known’ Lynn online for the last several years but getting to meet her in person amazing! She’s just as sweet, funny, kind, caring, considerate and down to earth in person as she is online! Her presentation was pretty basic stuff for me but I had a total leap out of my comfort zone moment during Lynn’s presentation. Those of you that know me know my serious issue with public speaking and the fear I face. I had a question and I didn’t let my fear stop me from asking! This was a huge breakthrough for me! There was a microphone shoved in my face and I talked…in front of a room FULL of people! Yikes!

It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention the lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s with Lynn, her daughter Annie, Angie Newton and Danielle Johnson. Let me just say that we were getting looks for a lot of the people there. Yes folks us adults were being that loud and obnoxious! How we didn’t get kicked out is beyond me! It was at that lunch that I learned Lynn Terry and I have so many things in common. I never would have thought that! My favorite phrase now? Chaaaaarlie (if you have no clue what that means check out this video and it will explain everything!)

There were other presentations that rocked my world too. Aileen Bennett was amazing. She kicked us off Friday morning and man oh man what a great way to kick things off! Kathleen Gage as I already mentioned rocked the house.  Denise Wakeman gave lots of blogging tips that I picked up several pieces of gold nuggets from.

And of course there was the whole point of the event – meeting so many awesome peeps! And here’s just a few…

• Angie Newton
• Danielle Johnson
• Nicole Dean
• Andrea Amir
• Kimmoy Matthews
• Susanne Myers
• Glennette Goodbread
• The Man From Down Under – Steve Cockrane
• The Man That Forgot His Luggage and then left the tag on his shirt (you just had to be there to get this)

There were several other people I met too. Just not enough space to list them all! And next time I need to push myself out of my comfort zone even more and network with way more people. I kind of stuck to the same ‘group’ the entire time so that’s my goal for NAMS 4 – to network with lots of other peeps!

It was just an all around great experience for me! I learned so many things, met so many awesome people and will be going back for NAMS 4 in August. This is one event that I can see myself attending over and over and over – it was that great of an experience for me!

Of course with most good things come some bad. And while for me there weren’t that many bad things there were a couple things I didn’t like. I didn’t like what Joey Smith taught the beginners. At first it didn’t bother me but then the more I sat and thought about it later that evening, it really ruffled my feathers. I don’t agree with what he taught and I know everyone has their own opinion and that’s just mine. He was teaching us the Twitter Cash Method (I believe that’s what it was called).

The service in the restaurant of the hotel wasn’t always the greatest. There were a few times we waited and waited and waited to get our food or to get our check. They also didn’t have a very big selection of food (they mostly offered a buffet and for those of us that were ‘dieting’ a buffet isn’t the greatest choice!) and the food was pretty expensive. Thankfully there was a Subway right next to the hotel and I was able to eat there several times for lunch.

And last but certainly not least – my Michigan road trip gals. Kelly McCausey, Cindy Bidar and Kim Smith. This is the 2nd road trip with them and the 1st time around (to Canada) they got to watch me ‘conquer’ my fear of driving over bridges and this time around they got to watch me…well NOT conquer my fear of mountains and totally FREAK out!

It’s kind of hard to put into words everything I experienced during NAMS. It’s just one of those things that you really need to experience for yourself. Everyone walks away with such a different experience. If you’re thinking about going to NAMS 4 in August be sure to grab your ticket now.

p.s. Check out all my NAMS pictures.

So the story unfolds…

Most of you know that I recently was away for 7 days. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the NAMS event in Atlanta, Georgia. I knew when I came back I had a very large transcription project scheduled.

While there (NAMS) I was given the suggestion to look for an intern and give them a trial run at transcription. Most interns are not paid but because transcription is such a time consuming project I knew I had to offer them a payment so I came to a reasonable price and went on a quest for an ‘intern’.

I found one and ended up getting screwed over!

I liked that this person is also a Virtual Assistant, liked that this person and I have a mutual acquaintance with someone and most importantly I liked the fact that this person was familiar with transcription.

On Friday the 5th at 9:25 pm they email me and I knew it was going to be bad news when the email started like this:

Hi Tishia

I just wanted to let you know where I was in the transcription. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am only about 40 minutes in…

40 minutes in? Uhm hello! This was a 150 minute audio (2.5 hours!) This is AFTER I had already extended the deadline once during the day when this person was dealing with a sick child and at that time during the day they were a lot farther along than 40 minutes…so they said.

I won’t go into details about WHY they say they were only 40 minutes into the audio at this point because quite frankly I don’t believe it!

So the point of this?

I didn’t do my research!

I didn’t look at their VA website (had I, they would NOT have been hired because it’s not very professional looking, there are NO customer testimonials and just some other things). I didn’t ask for references.

So don’t be an idiot like me! Do your research! Ask for referrals, etc!

p.s. In case you were wondering I did find someone else to help me – my friend and ‘newbie’ to the internet marketing world Angel Williams. I also had to do a renegotiation with my client about my deadline which was a horrible feeling but I was in a major bind and had no choice. But in the end it all worked out for the best. Although I’m pretty sure Angel hates me now after that transcription project (it was looooooong)

I love blogging! I’d have to say I’m probably just a tad bit addicted to it – this blog is one of 3 that I have. Not that 3 is really all that many, I could easily have more than that but it’s hard keeping up with the ones I already have.

There is an ‘art’ when it comes to blogging. You can’t just throw one up, start writing and expect visitors to come rolling in (wouldn’t that be nice if it were that easy?)You have to attract your visitors. In other words if you want to attract a steady stream of traffic to your blog, you need to give good blog!

How do you do that?

I’m glad you asked Crissy Herron of IndieBizChicks.com has exactly what you need. Her audio & workbook package How To Give Good Blog (it’s the 3rd product listed on the page) benefits you because you will…

• Learn how to attract your target market
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Pick up your copy of How To Give Good Blog today for just $5!

These cut n’ paste press releases are perfect if you want to send out press releases without the hassle! It’s a set of 5 pre-written press releases. Normally priced at $34.95 Crissy is selling them right now for the ridiculously insane low low price of just $5.00!

To Vote

1. Go to Vote For Your Favorite Mom Webs Promo Video
2. Leave a comment saying you vote for me (Tishia Lee in case you didn’t know lol)

You can watch my video by going here.

I feel like I need 7 more days off just to recuperate from the time off! Isn’t it funny how after a ‘vacation’ (technically this wasn’t a vacation) we need another one just to get back on track and back into the groove of things?

I’ll be writing a more in depth recap of my NAMS experience later this week or weekend – just depends on when I have the energy to recap everything.  One thing I will say now is that it exceeded my expectations. I was blown away by the speakers (I didn’t agree with what one of the speakers taught but no biggie). Not just by their presentations and the things I learned but by their friendliness, down-to-earth fun-loving attitudes and how approachable they were (most of them).

I can’t wait to attend NAMS 4 in August!