Of course running a business takes hard work too. You’ll need to be prepared for the Holiday season and the orders that will come in. You will need to make sure that you are stocked up on postage, leave yourself enough time to get the letters mailed so that they reach their destination on time. Remember these letters are coming from the North Pole after all

First before you start thinking about taking orders for the letters you need to think about the business aspect of things. You will need to appear as professional as possible and follow some basic business principles like having a business checking account. It’s a good idea to have a website to promote your business too. These are all things you will need to think about.

Maybe the thought of doing this year round has you questioning how that’s possible. After all Santa letters are only going to be in ‘season’ for a few short months. Believe it or not there are many options for this business.

If you are interested in taking your Santa Letter business a step further and turning it into a year round business pick up your copy of Santa Letter Business Mom’s Talk Biz Guide to Starting Your Own Santa Letter Business. It provides tips on how to make it a full-time business. The guide also provides pointers such as the skills to get your business off the ground, tools and materials needed, how to get a North Pole postmark, marketing to your local area as well as some basic business tips such as whether or not you need to register your Santa Letter business and tax deductions and tips.

A Santa Letter Business is a Great Business for Both Seasonal or Year Round is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

If you’ve been wanting to join Mom Masterminds, now is the time. A lifetime membership for 75% off is an awesome deal! I’ve been a member of Mom Masterminds for a while now, and the support and resources are worth every penny.

Click the graphic above to grab a lifetime membership (Reg $500) to Mom Masterminds now & save 75%! Use Coupon ’7055D6′ (Choose ‘One Time Payment Lifetime Membership’ to use
coupon code.)

I hope to see you there!

Cyber Monday Special – Mom Masterminds Discounted 75% is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

My grandma is dying and it’s only a matter of time now. I’m trying to raise some quick cash to get Andrew and I to California before she passes. My reasons are two-fold. Obviously for myself and my child to have that closure, but also my mom will be there Saturday and I really feel like I need to be there for her. She’s not handling this well at all. Even though Grandma is in her 80s, it’s never easy to lose a parent. Even if you know it’s coming. Even if they’ve lived a long life. Even if you know they are ready to meet Jesus.

As most of you know, I work from home. You can check out my services here. My rate is $40 an hour. I’ve created a discount code for 25% off. You’ll be able to indicate the quantity desired at check out. If you want to contact me before check out and discuss your project so we can determine an estimate of hours, please use the contact form here. This discount also applies to any of the packages I’ve created as well as the Photoshop Tutorial Videos.

Use discount code Grandma at checkout.

Thank you for your help.

~ Shannon

UPDATE: For those who have emailed me wanting to donate, but not needing services, there is now a donate button below the blue tabs on the side bar to the right. Thank you!

Help me say goodbye is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

The good news is I found a dentist local to me that will charge me based on a sliding scale. The bad news is they require payment up front and I literally have $2 to my name. So I’m continuing the discount, but now it will go towards getting me into the dentist on an emergency walk in basis.

Please check out the services over at Appetite for Design and use discount code “dentist” to receive 25% off. That code will be good through the end of June. This is also good on the Photoshop for Newbies Video Tutorial that I just added.

Thanks!

Shannon

Change of plans #evoconf is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

From now through Saturday, use discount code “evo10″ on any products or services listed on Appetite for Design and receive 25% off.

Services with prices and add to cart buttons can be found under the “Rates” page. I’ve also just added a Photoshop for Newbies Video Tutorial package. Purchase today using the code “evo10″ and receive just over $10 off!

Sign up for our affiliate program and earn 10% of referred purchases.

Help me go to #evoconf is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

My normal rate is $40 an hour. I’m selling 10 packages of 5 hours for $100 which is 50% off. I can not afford to sell many of these, so I have to cut it off at 10.  I would be happy to extend the offer at 25% off to the end of the week after the initial 10 is met.

Projects will be scheduled in the order received.

UPDATED TO ADD: I guess it might be nice to add contact info so you can get in touch in a way other than the comments section. You can email me at singlewahm AT gmail DOT com and I’ll send a payment request through PayPal. Thanks!

Finances suck. How do you benefit? is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

My loss is your gain! I’m offering half price on my services. My normal hourly rate is $40 an hour. For this weekend only, prepay for services and receive them at $20 an hour! I’ll issue a credit memo which you can use at any time.

If you know your are going to need design work in the near or not-so-near future, prepay now and benefit from this opportunity. I can do website headers, eBook covers, eBook layout and design, banners and buttons as well as all of your printed material design needs.

Services can be viewed here.

Portfolio can be viewed here.

Click the button below and use PayPal to prepay hours for your design needs. I have it set up to charge $20 for a quantity of one. Just input how many hours you want to prepay. I’ll set you up an account and issue you a credit memo for your records.

Easter Weekend Special is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

Here’s the link for the Work at Home Mom PLR Article Bundle. Then scroll down and look for the link that says Order Multiple Bundles. Choose one, two or choose them all. Then use the coupon code 076FD at checkout.

But hurry! This code is good only through Monday, January 7!

25% Off Article and Research Bundles is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

What do you really appreciate about your life right now? Take some time to make a list of all the things you’re thankful for.

Thanksgiving was just last week, and many of my blogging friends have already answered this question. I touched on it briefly Thanksgiving Day. I was in a bit of hurry though, and so thought I’d expand a little bit on a few of them tonight.

God – Where to begin? God has always been a part of my life. I grew up with a mother who has always been active in the church. She’s been a singer, preacher, evangelist as long as I can remember. Her mother has been all of that as well as pastoring a church. However, it’s only been recently that I’ve come into my own where God is concerned. What I mean is that I’m finally in a place where I have my own relationship and faith in God and not just depending on my mother’s relationship and faith. I took a long time to get here. I’m not really sure why, but I’m so glad I did. Life is so much better since I stopped worrying about everything and started letting God take care of it. He’s actually the reason for the Light at the End of the Tunnel I mentioned being thankful for in my Thanksgiving post.

Andrew – You don’t have to know me long before you know Andrew…usually all about Andrew. LOL He is my life. In fact, I believe with all my heart having Andrew saved my life. More than once in different ways. I told somebody at church the other day that getting pregnant with Andrew was God slapping me upside the head and saying, “It’s time to straighten up, Shannon!”  Maybe someday I’ll share more about that. I am just so very thankful for this little boy in my life. He is my reason for getting up in the morning. And he is the reason for every thing I do. Every decision I make. I love you, Andrew.

Freedom that Working from Home Gives Me – Every time Andrew is sick and I get to stay home with him instead of (1) depending on somebody else to watch him or (2) miss paid days of work to be able to stay home with him, I am so grateful. Recently, he missed two full weeks of school due to some respiratory issues. I never would have been able to take two weeks off work and still paid the bills.

The Many Blessings I’ve had in my Business Recently – I have a couple new clients. I’ve made many new connections through the Business and Learning chats and Twitter. And of course, my awesome lifetime Mom Masterminds Membership I won during the WAH Expo.

Anyway, I’m all teary-eyed now. So, I’m going to go cuddle up with Andrew and get some sleep. Have a great week!

What Do I Really Appreciate About My Life Right Now? is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

Finally the big moment comes. They announce they are giving it away next. I’m ready. But wait! My computer has decided to choose THIS moment to act stupid. I recently upgraded the memory to 3 times what it had because I found a smoking deal on eBay. I have not had issues with it dragging or being slow since the day I installed the memory two months ago. So, why does it choose last night to suddenly drag? I couldn’t get Firefox to behave. My connection kept signing in and out of chat. I thought I was going to cry.

I close all my windows and programs except the chat and my browser. I even used IE for my browser because I had several tabs open in Firefox. I didn’t want to lose them, but I knew it would slow me down. I’m sitting there with the chat and IE open. I’m holding my breath waiting for the question.

Andrew suddenly pipes up asking a question. Why now??? I practically yelled at him to shut up for a minute. (Now, let me clarify that it was the 3rd time I had asked him to be quiet for a minute because mommy needed to listen.) He starts crying. I’m mean. He just wants to ask a question. I’m sorry, but asked you to be quiet. Are you bleeding? No. Then it can wait.

Back to the chat. Did I miss the question? No, Wendy is asking it now.

“What three things happen when you use the Mom Masterminds tools provided?”

The rest is pretty much a blur. I’m not sure how I found it as fast as I did, and then I copied and pasted it into the chat window. I was only half listening as Wendy was explaining what to do as I hit enter. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer. With a huge pit in my stomach, I opened my eyes and the first post I saw was somebody saying “OMG did Shannon just win?”

What? Did I? I scroll up. There it is. My answer was first. I vaguely hear and see people commenting on how did she do that. She was fast. She wanted it bad. Congratulations. Woo hoo.

I’m still in shock. I blink a few times. And then I swear, God as my witness, I started shaking and crying. It took me about 10 minutes to really become aware of my surroundings again. I vaguely remember Kelly McCausey explaining the membership and all the benefits I had just won. Even remembering all this and typing it, I have gotten teary eyed and started shaking.

A huge, huge thank you to Kelly for donating this awesome prize. And a huge, huge thank you to Tammy and Wendy for holding the expo. And a huge, huge thank you to God for stepping in and helping me win it. He knew how much I need this in my business.

It wasn’t a dream! I won! is a post from: Staying Home with My Son