How many articles or blog posts do you write each month? If you’re like many home business owners and online marketers the answer may be “dozens.” Of course you might write more than that too. It can be a lot of work, energy and time to write all of that content. Are you making every article count?

1. Social Networking. Make sure to link to each new article or blog post, regardless of where you publish it, from your chosen social networking sites. Link to it from Facebook, Twitter, and consider adding it to social bookmarking sites like Digg too.

2. Email marketing. Create teasers for the content you’ve published online and send email messages with those teasers to your opt-in list. It’ll send traffic to your website and help keep you in front of your prospects. A weekly wrap up is a great way to highlight your new content, connect with your prospects and motivate sales.

3. Rewrite. Rewrite your articles and blog posts. You can use them for article marketing purposes. You can also send them to your email list. This is particularly effective if you rewrite articles for article marketing purposes and send them to your email list. You’re not at risk for duplicate content and you’re providing information to your prospects.

4. Repurpose. Use your articles and blog posts to create reports, ebooks and information products. There’s a small caveat here. You probably don’t want to charge for this content unless it provides significantly more value to readers than the free content you’ve already published.

For example, you can collect ten to twenty articles on a common topic and create a free report from them. You’ll need to add transitions, an introduction and enough new unique content to make it valuable. It’s a great way to provide information to your prospects. You can also monetize the report with affiliate links.

5. Snippets. Pull snippets from your existing articles and blog posts and share them online. Post helpful tips on Twitter and/or Facebook. You can hire a Virtual Assistant to publish five to ten snippets a day. Provide value without creating new content.
It’s important to know that you can also use existing reports and ebooks you’ve written to create articles and blog posts. Simply reverse the process and extract content from the report to create a blog post. Personalize it and you’ve provided value, new content and search engine fuel.
With each piece of content you create, create a plan to maximize it. Rewrite it. Repurpose it. Reuse it in a different format. Create a plan to make every article count and you’ll build a comprehensive and extremely effective content marketing strategy.

Making Money by Sharing Halal Recipes

There are a few different business models you can embrace. One model is as an affiliate marketer. You can blog about your favorite recipes, create video cooking demonstrations and offer information about food and cooking. While discussing various recipes and cooking topics you can include links to relevant products. When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission. You can also profit from advertising sales and PPC clicks like Google AdSense. You can also write reviews for restaurants in your area and make money on advertising sales.

The second business model you can choose is an information marketer. You can create halal cookbooks and sell them online. You might consider creating a blog or website that supports your cookbook sales. For example, you could blog about various recipes and offer cooking demonstrations while also selling your cookbooks.

What Do You Need to Get Started?

First and foremost, you really need to love food! If you enjoy eating (and who doesn’t?,) then it should be a pretty easy transition. The second thing to consider is a specialty. Do you want to focus on sharing soup recipes? What about bread or baked goods? Will you review restaurants? If so, will you focus on a type of restaurant or will you cover them all?

Before you hop online and start blogging or reviewing, create a business plan. Set goals for your business and strategies to achieve them.

You’ll also need basic equipment. You’ll want a computer with an internet connection. You’ll also want to create a blog or website. If you’re creating video content for your blog or website then you’ll also want a camera.

Chances are you already have a computer, an internet connection and you may have a video camera. That means all you need is a domain name, hosting and a website or blog. You can create that for just a few dollars. Of course you can spend thousands on a website too. However, there’s no need to spend a ton. You can create a great blog or website all by yourself for very little.

Marketing Your Business

As an affiliate or information marketer, your biggest marketing tool will more than likely be your content. Good quality content will help you rank on the search engines. You can also use pay per click advertising to drive traffic. Social networking on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is free and it’s a great way to increase awareness for your website.

Create a newsletter. Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your readers. They’re also a fantastic way to promote a few affiliate products and earn extra money.

If you love food and you enjoy talking about halal options for Muslim consumers, consider building a business around your passion. Create a halal food blog. Write halal cookbooks. Share halal resources, recipes, reviews and information and earn income at the same time.

It happens to every blogger at some point. You sit down to write a post, or plan it, and whoosh – it’s like all ideas were sucked from your head. There’s nothing there. You have no idea what to write about. Not to worry. Here are surefire ways to fill your head with great content ideas. Here are 7 ideas that can help:

#1 Grab a magazine, or newspaper, and look at the cover. Convert each of the teaser headlines into headlines for your blog or website. You’ll likely have things like:

• The top 10 ways to___
• 5 secrets of__
• Easy ways to ____

And so on. It’s a great way to generate quick and easy content ideas.

#2 Visit your favorite blog and expand on their latest blog post. Or better yet, comment on the latest blog post and then write or blog about your comment. You can use it to generate traffic to your site and provide new and valuable information to your audience.

#3 Watch the national news for ten minutes. Chances are you’ll see something that relates to you. You can use this news story to generate ideas for your content. For example, a news story about the job market might lead you to write an organization article about how to organize your life to attract more success. The news, while sometimes depressing, can also inspire great, and timely, content ideas.

#4 Pirate. Use comments and feedback you’ve received from others to create content for your blog or website. For example, you might use a question comment from a reader to start a new blog post on the same topic. Your readers are actually great sources of inspiration. You can also use your response to the commenter to generate a new blog post or article.

#5 Find a quote that you love and expand on it. Share why you love it and what it means to you. Tie it to your business products, services or information and ask readers to provide their favorite quote on the subject.

#6 Review a book, product, or service. If you’re stumped for content, reviews are always appreciated by readers. They provide valuable information and they give you an opportunity to earn an affiliate income.

Writer’s block, or blog idea block, happens. Don’t let it derail you! Look around you for insight and inspiration. To prevent it from happening in the future, keep a notebook with you at all times to jot down ideas as they come to you!

When I have free time, which has been pretty rare these days, I like to spend time doing creative, crafty projects. I’ve been known to lose myself in a variety of crafty pursuits: refinishing/reupholstering furniture, sewing, knitting, making jewelry and  much more. I have several bookmarked crafty sites that I enjoy perusing. By the way – there are some very impressive Muslimah-owned craft-focused blogs showing up on the web, alhamdullilah!

Do you have a special skill or talent? Can you make things that people value? Are you crafty? If you are, you can make good money. You can turn your hobby into a business. For example, if you knit, you can create an online store. Sell products that you’ve knitted and take orders. It’s a wonderful way to make money doing something you love.

What is a Craft Business?

A craft business is a business you can operate online and off. You can create your own website and store. You can also use services like etsy.com and eBay.com to sell your products. In fact, many people sell handmade jewelry, candles, clothing, accessories and home goods. There’s a growing demand for unique, handmade products. If you have the skills, you can make good money.

What Do You Need to Get Started?

Getting started is fairly simple. You’ll need:

• A computer – so you can communicate with customers and market your product.
• A camera – to photograph your items.
• Product – you’ll want a few items for your inventory and to photograph for your website or store.
• A business plan – how much do you want to make? What expenses do you have? Who is your audience? How will you market your business? How much will your products cost?
• A website or store – Check out services like Etsy and eBay. eBay is an auction site however you can sell handmade goods at a fixed price. Etsy focuses on selling vintage and handmade items. It’s the perfect place to sell your handmade items. At both sites you can create a store. There’s a monthly membership fee but it’s generally less than twenty dollars each month. Both have a built in shopping cart system and payment and fulfillment system.

Tips for Marketing and Growing Your Business

#1 Research other craft businesses. Get online at Etsy and eBay and review their stores and websites. What works? What doesn’t? Before you create your store or website, plan it on paper.

#2 Prosper with partnerships. As a craft business owner you might even partner with other business owner to support each other’s success. For example, if you know someone who makes hand blown glass holiday ornaments and you make hand knitted holiday stockings you might band together to promote each other.

#3 Consider choosing a niche or specialty. It’s easier to find an audience if you have a specialty. For example, if you’re a painter you might enjoy painting a variety of scenes and using a variety of mediums. However, if you specialize you will have an easier time marketing your products. Specialization makes you the go to person for a specific type of product.

If you are a skilled artist or crafter, you can make money with your hobby. Research your target audience. Choose a specialty and set up your store. With a small investment you can begin making money right from your kitchen table.

Sometimes there’s just no time in the day to write a blog post or article for your website. Yet it’s generally a good idea to stay on schedule and add content to your site. Content keeps visitors coming to your site and it helps build your business. So what do you do when you don’t have time for content?

Check out these 10 Ideas:

1. Get ideas from content on Social sites. Presumably you’ve interacted with other people online. Use those comments you’ve posted to create a quick blog post or article for your site. Add a headline, a few subheadings and tweak it for publication. The result? Quick and easy content.

2. Link love. Instead of writing a full blown article or post, link to an article or blog post and share your opinion about the content. Invite others to comment too.

3. Quick print. Create a list of resources or links to articles and blog posts on a topic that is near and dear to your readers. For example, if you have a blog that offers organization solutions you can create a quick and easy blog post with links to your top ten favorite organization supply stores.

4. Photo sharing. Share a picture and ask readers to create a caption. Some bloggers actually create a specific day for their photo sharing. They call it “Wordless Wednesday” or something like that. People love to look at photos and you don’t have to write a word!

5. The best of the best. Create an article or blog post recap. Highlight and recap your top blog posts from last month, last quarter, or even last year. Focus on a specific topic to add more value. For example, “Top ten blog posts on Organizing your Bathroom.”

6. Get readers involved. Take this hurried time to create an opportunity. Publish a quiz or survey and gain valuable information about your audience.

7. Read all about it. Grab a news feed or two and share links to industry news or headlines and snippets. You can actually create a weekly or monthly post with this idea. For example you could create an end of the month news update and highlight all the newsworthy things that happened that month.

8. Roll with it. Grab your video camera and create a quick how to video. A few minutes is plenty to provide good content and it takes less time to create a video for many than to write an article or blog post.

9. Comment Love. Share your favorite comments from the past month, quarter or year. This shows your readers that you appreciate their feedback and gets other readers involved.

10. Editorial. Grab a headline from the news and expand on it. Share your opinion.

11. Quotable. Share a quote that inspires you, makes you laugh or is relevant to your industry. It’s a simple cut and paste blog post!
Don’t have time to write a blog post or article? No problem. Use one of these ideas each week and you’ll keep your readers happy.

I’m setting the bar for my business goals higher this year. One of my biggest goals is to grow a passive income stream to my overall business. Passive income is money you are not directly involved with creating.

I love that I’ve been able to earn a living working at home. The downside is the more clients/projects I get, the more time I spend getting everything done. Bottom line: if I don’t do the work I don’t get paid. I want to be able to reduce my actual work hours and spend more time with my family without earning less. There are quite a few bloggers who have successfully turned blogging into a money earning business.

With passive income, your direct involvement is not required to earn profit. I’d love to be able to do it by blogging which is what lead me to the ebook “Publicity Spark, a website providing information and education on all things public relations. Ponn is also the founder/publisher of American Muslim Mom.

Affiliate marketing allows you to make money online by boosting awareness of businesses and the products or service they sell. When you promote a product or service, you earn a commission in return. Commissions can either be a percentage of the sale, or a fixed rate.

Ponn and Janet’s ebook does a great job of explaining affiliate marketing in simple language for those who may not be familiar with the term. The ebook is specifically written for bloggers who would like to turn blogging into a profitable venture. The ebook with an explaination of affiliate marketing and provides step-by-step instructions to generating an income.

The first step in the guide is titled “Change Your Mindset.” Here’s where Ponn and Janet explain how critical it is to think of your blog as a business from the onset. They encourage readers to understand the real money-making potential of blogging, and to take a strategic approach to building a foundation for long-term residual income.

Ponn and Janet also discuss the importance of being transparent and honest with your readers, and I agree. I have purchased lots of recommended products and online. I don’t like the overly hyped sales approach. If someone I know and trust makes a suggestion, nine times out of ten, I can make the purchase with confidence that I’m getting what I’m paying for, and that’s important to me. You should always be 100% honest when reviewing a product/service of making a suggestion about a product or service.

The authors use Ponn’s American Muslim Mom blog as an example throughout the book which gives readers a realistic point of reference. They show how Ponn has turned her own blog into a profitable business following the steps outline in the book, and you can too.

The success of affiliate marketing greatly depends on putting effort into building a trustworthy relationship with your readers and the subscribers on your list. If you establish a good relationship with your readers, a reputation for honesty and provide them with relevant, useful information about products/services you know about, it can be a win-win for everyone.

Success with affiliate marketing via your blog also depends on building a decent level of traffic to your site as well. I say this to drive home the point that there is work required even when building a residual income stream with your blog. You can’t just sit back, do nothing and watch the money come; but as you put key systems in place, less hand-on work will be required.

I was honored to be included to participate in the TouchNote Eid2Eid postcard campaign and share this exciting informationwith you. TouchNote helps you transform your favorite photos into one-of-a-kind, personalized post cards to share with family and friends. You can get started by logging into the TouchNote website, or use free apps for iPhone and Andriod smartphones. My family and I are excited about embarking on our DIY Eid postcard project. I’ll be sure to post a review sharing my own experience using TouchNote, insha’Allah.

To participate in the TouchNote challenge, here’s what you need to know: From now until Eid-al-Adah, you can sign up absolutely free and show off your creativity for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.

Here’s how you can get your free sample and join the challenge: The first 50 people to comment and follow instructions for the TouchNote campaign at American Muslim Mom will receive a Touchnote postcard credit and be entered to participate in the challenge. The deadline is October 20, 2011, 11:59p.m. EST.

You’ll need to create your own postcard and post a blog review of your experience to qualify to win (postcards don’t have to be Eid or Islamic themes). You’ll find details, and rules over at American Muslim Mom. Judging will be done by Touchnote and American Muslim Mom staff.

Learn More about TouchNote through their website, Facebook Page and Twitter.

Disclosure: I was selected for this campaign by American Muslim Mom Media Network, and received products free of charge. I was not influenced in anyway to provide only positive statements. The thoughts and opinions of this campaign are my own.

My introduction to The 99 came last week after reading a passionate post by American Muslim Mom’s Ponn Sabra titled, “Wham! Bam! Islam! PBS Documentary Review & Interview with Creator Dr. Naif.” If like me you live under a rock and didn’t know, The 99 is recognized as the very first global comic series based on Islamic principles. Ponn’s post left me more than a little bit curious, so I immediately went online searching for information about the comic and it’s creator, Dr. Naif.

I wasn’t surprised to learn there was negative press surrounding the series. After sharing the link to Ponn’s post on Twitter, I immediately noticed other updates in my Twitter stream sharing links on the topic – some in support of Dr. Naif’s series, some against. According to Ponn’s post, there have reportedly been rumblings that some Muslim bloggers plan to do what they can to thwart the series from being introduced to Americans by continuing to spread bad press.

The documentary aired at 1:00a.m., 2:00a.m. and again at 3:00a.m. – waaaaay past my children’s bedtime; but thankfully we were able to DRV the program and watch it together Sunday afternoon. The children were impressed and as always very excited to see Islam reflected in something as common as a comic series. Something so simple means a lot to a child. They are very eager to go online to find out more about these characters.

I won’t get into a religious debate about whether or not The 99 is beneficial or harmful for the ummah, or disrespecting of Allah and the deen. To me this is more of  a censorship issue, and I’m against all forms of censorship. Even when someone is says something I disagree with, or find hurtful, I still believe they have the right to have their say. Just as I have the right to have mine.

If a blogger disagrees with the context of The 99, she has the right to share her opinion. If a group of bloggers come together for the sole purpose of preventing the series from being viewed by others – without their permission – that’s censorship. I’m taking a stand against censorship with American Muslim Mom. If you are a blogger and would like to join this effort, visit American Muslim Mom and grab the “I’m Standing with American Muslim Mom Against Censorship” button, and have your say!

Recently I was asked to become a contributing blogger for the online magazine American Muslim Mom, a website catering to Muslim moms living in North American and abroad supporting the many roles we fulfill in this life as wife, mother, homemaker, teacher, protector of household wealth, and of course our most important role: humble servant to Allah t’ala.

As soon as the new web design is complete, I’ll post my lovely American Muslim Mom contributor button, insha’Allah. I’m humbled to be chosen to write for such an important online publication along with several other talented sister bloggers. You may already be familiar with  their blogs:

Marco Mama
Habeebee Homeschooling
Common Cents Mom
This Little Life of Mine
Sweet TeAya

Please stop by their blogs to say hi and continue supporting our Muslimah bloggers. It’s so important that our true voices are being heard, masha’Allah.
Please be sure to also pop over to the  American Muslim Mom website and share your comments and support! Ma salaam!

Muslimahs Working at Home was created to provide women with an alternative to earning an income outside of the home. Our objective is to share resources and tools necessary to operate a successful, profitable, home-based business.

I manage three blogs simultaneously (not including any client blogs I also manage). Most days coming up with blog topics is effortless. The ideas just seem to flow and it seems like I’ll never run out of things to blog about. Unfortunately, it was not so easy to come up with topics this week.

Eventually this happens to most of us. I suspect it’s one of the reasons so many blogs on the web wind up deserted. Blogging is an excellent social media and networking platform for home businesses, so generating fresh interesting topic ideas for your readers is very important in order to keep readers interested enough to keep coming back.

I remember in college while taking a creative writing course, the professor taught us a few brainstorming exercises to help prevent “writers block.” I couldn’t recall all of the exercises he taught us, so I decided to research brainstorming exercises on my own. In case you are familiar with the term, brainstorming is a way of producing several ideas on one topic and then narrowing down the best options.

Many experts say brainstorming works best if there is a facilitator to lead the process, but I believe even solopreneurs can benefit from this activity too. If you have someone you can bounce ideas off of, that’s great, but don’t let that deter you from taking advantage of an opportunity to unblock your creativity so all those great ideas can flow free once again.

Define the problem

It’s important to define the problem you’re facing as a creative obstacle.  Your goal is to come up with viable solutions. Start by asking a question like: “In what ways can I…” or “How can my customers…”

Set a  time limit

Give yourself a certain amount of time for brainstorming. Setting a time limit forces you to push past whatever’s blocking you so that you can come up with as many ideas during the time limit as possible.  Use an egg timer, the alarm on your cell or something that makes it easy to know when to stop when your time is up.

Purge

As soon as the timer starts, begin writing down as many solutions to your problem as possible. Don’t waste time thinking – this portion of the exercise is about being completely extemporaneous. Write down the first things that come to mind, no matter how silly you think it is. Turn off your inner critic (easier said than done, I know).

Analyze

Come up with four to five criteria for deciding which ideas best solve your problem.  Your criteria list can include terms like “cost-effective”, “halal”, etc.

Evaluate

Assign each viable idea with a score using a rating scale of 0 to 5. The score you assign each idea will show how well each idea meets the criterion.

Brainstorming is a great way to get your creativity flowing again. Do you have any brainstorming or other ideas to help get ideas flowing?

Muslimahs Working at Home was created to provide women with an alternative to earning an income outside of the home. Our objective is to share resources and tools necessary to operate a successful, profitable, home-based business.

photo credit: opensourceway