How to Find Real Work From Home For Moms – The Amazing Truth About Mommy Blogs

Let’s take a few minutes and discuss what I believe is one of the VERY best ways for a mom to get started making almost INSTANT cash from home. It’s the “Mommy Blog” phenomenon, and in my view, it’s an online market that is absolutely going to explode in the next decade. (and it’s already getting pretty big!)

What is a Mommy Blog? Very simply, there is an evergreen and growing group of stay at home moms who are writing about their experiences……coming OUT of the workplace, raising a family, highs, lows and otherwise. There is OBVIOUSLY a large captive audience that is perennially present….women who are also mothers, are expecting, or who are simply looking to bond with those who are.

Fact: One of the most profitable online markets is selling products and services to young families

It’s true….and this gives Mommy Blogs the inherent advantage of having a wide assortment of plug and play affiliate offers which are dead simple to monetize. Women also tend to support each other creatively, online, in ways that guys simply don’t……and this support often gives even NEW blogs an influx of viral visitors from other more established sites that cater to the same crowd.

What do you need to succeed?

A little bit of smarts, some passion and skill for writing, and a genuine NEED to make more money from home for you, and your growing family! Remember – blogs can be set up largely for FREE, affiliate offers can be picked and plugged in over one short afternoon….and you are IN business! Don’t think it can be that simple? I dare you to TRY, and prove me wrong!

Home Based Business Opportunities Ideas – Attract Targeted Traffic That Produces Sales

When you build a web site you have to send targeted traffic to it. It is targeted traffic that will translate into sales. There are a number of home based business ideas that can help you to drag people to your web site, just like sheep to slaughterhouse. Some of the targeted traffic generating ideas will require you to pay, others are free. The following list of home based business ideas to attract targeted traffic is by no means exhaustive. You may want to add a few more.

Free contests where people win valuable items will make your site loved. This is a basic need of human nature that you can exploit. The important thing is to make the contest regular and predictable.

Consider adding a forum to your web site. People love discussing issues with likeminded people. A forum will mean added responsibility on your part. So be prepared to set aside time to moderate the forum.

People want to be updated with the latest information. Offering the latest news on developments in a chosen niche will boost your chances of attracting targeted visitors.

Chat rooms are becoming popular with an increasing number of people. Creating a chat room and allowing other websites to link to it will result in more visitors to your website.

Bonuses will help pre-sell your customers. Remember to indicate the normal value of a bonus item as that will heighten people’s appreciation for it.

Visit the best news channels to find out the best fonts and size of text for your home business website. Large companies spend thousands of dollars testing what works best. You will be surprised at the difference this makes to you sales.

Include hard evidence on your home based business website to back up your claims. People are becoming very skeptical about online offers. This will increase the stickiness of your web pages encouraging your visitors to stay longer at your home based business web site and hopefully buy your products.

The above list gives you some home based businesses ideas on attracting targeted traffic to your website, with potential to turn into sales. Just taking one of these ideas and implementing it may result in more targeted visitors to your website and thousands of dollars in sales. You can also improve the suggested Home Based Businesses ideas before you implement them, which can make them even more valuable. Some internet marketers have been able to build successful businesses on just one of the above ideas. It would be a mistake to ignore or underestimate them.

Oil sinks to 4 1/2-year low after OPEC cut

Oil falls even as cartel says it will cut production in bid to prop up prices driven lower by global economic downturn.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a bold but not unexpected move to prop up falling oil prices, said Wednesday that it would cut production by 2.2 million barrels a day starting next month. The cut is the largest ever announced by OPEC.

OPEC hopes the cuts will stabilize prices, which have dropped by more than $100 a barrel since reaching a record high in July. The worsening economic downturn has sapped demand worldwide.

But traders were unmoved by the production cut, which had been widely expected. U.S. crude for January delivery sank $3.54 to settle at $40.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That’s the lowest settlement price since July 13, 2004, when oil settled at $39.44.

After the OPEC announcement, prices fell $2.10 to $41.50 a barrel. Oil had been as high as $45.50 earlier in the day.

Oil prices have fallen rapidly in recent months due to “the repercussions of the financial crisis,” said OPEC President Chakib Khelil. “We are in a very deteriorating environment,” he said.

“This move by OPEC was well telegraphed by the market,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with Alaron Trading in Chicago.

Before the meeting, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister told reporters that the group would cut 2 million barrels a day.

The new cut comes on top of a recent decrease of 2 million barrels a day announced earlier, bringing production down a total of 4.2 million barrels per day from September levels.

With the cuts, OPEC nations will produce roughly 24.8 million barrels a day.

Khelil said the cartel hopes oil will stabilize between “$70 to $80 at least.”

If oil fails to stabilize, Khelil left the door open for more cuts. “If you are not surprised [by the cuts], then we have to do something about it,” he said.

The group is next scheduled to meet on March 15, but Khelil said member states were prepared to hold another meeting sooner if needed.

The nations in OPEC produce about 40% of the world’s oil. The group met Wednesday in Oran, Algeria.

Non-OPEC fizzle: There had also been rumors early Wednesday that some non-OPEC countries would follow an OPEC cut with cuts of their own. But non-OPEC cuts failed to materialize.

“People really wanted to see a couple of non-OPEC producers step up to the plate, particularly Russia,” said Tom Orr, head of research for brokerage Weeden & Co.

Top officials from Russia and Azerbaijan hinted that they may cut production with OPEC, according to reports, but no non-OPEC cuts were announced as the session progressed.

“They (Russia) haven’t agreed to anything with us,” said Khelil. As a separate nation, “they’ll have to make their own decision,” he added.

U.S. inventories: Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Agency reported Wednesday that crude oil inventories increased 500,000 barrels from the previous week.

Analysts had expected to see a decline of 900,000 barrels of crude, according to a survey from research firm Platts.

Total gasoline inventories increased by 1.3 million barrels and are near the lower boundary of the average range. Supplies of distillates, which are used to make diesel and home heating oil, increased by 2.9 million barrels.

Analysts had expected a rise of 1.5 million barrels of gasoline, and a 1.8 million drop in distillates.

Economy and demand: As the global economy has slowed, the price of oil has plunged – nearly 70% since hitting a record high of $147.27 a barrel in mid-July. Investors are worried that worldwide slowdowns have tamped down demand for petroleum-based fuels.

In the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, driving has dropped off significantly over the past year, according to the Transportation Department.

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve lowered its key interbank interest rate to between 0% and 0.25% in an effort to jump-start the economy.

“These aggressive moves that have to be taken by the Fed are really not good for oil right now,” said Flynn.

CNN Wires contributed to this report.

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U.S. expects big drop in oil imports

Despite the recent drop in crude prices, the rising cost of a barrel of oil will boost the use of renewable energy and help slow greenhouse gas emissions.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: December 17, 2008: 4:32 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Despite the recent rout in oil prices, the government expects crude to shoot back up over the long term. That is expected to result in a drastic drop in oil imports and a greater use of renewable energy.

Oil imports – which currently make up 60% of all the oil consumed in the U.S. – should drop to about 40%, the Energy Information Administration said in its long-term energy outlook on Tuesday.

The drop will largely be the result of higher oil prices encouraging conservation and an expanded use of home-grown biofuels.

In making its predictions, EIA used an average crude price of $130 a barrel in 2030. That price is nearly double the projections for 2030 made last year – $70 a barrel.

Although the report was not meant to predict oil prices, EIA analysts say increased demand and limited access to new supplies will push crude prices up in the long term, despite crude’s recent plunge.

The upward revision in price is a major shift in the government’s long-term views on oil supply and demand. Limited access to new oil sources – particularly in OPEC countries – is a major reason why prices should increase.

Renewables on The Rise

“People are becoming aware of the fact that conventional supplies of oil outside of OPEC are quite limited,” said Robert Kaufmann, director of Boston University’s Center for Energy & Environmental Studies. “It’s getting harder and harder to tell the story that oil prices will remain low forever.”

EIA’s higher price estimate could give ammunition to policymakers seeking a big push into alternative fuels, or those seeking a more hawkish foreign policy, or both, said Kaufmann.

He said non-OPEC production peaked in 2004, and OPEC countries are expected to provide a greater share of the world’s oil going forward.

But OPEC has little incentive to increase its ability to pump oil. The cartel has seen the world is willing and able to pay over $100 for oil, and many OPEC countries have become accustomed to revenues generated from those high prices. For them, the higher the price the better – so long as it doesn’t kill the global economy or spur a mass shift away from oil.

EIA’s price revision is in-line with predictions made earlier this year by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a similar group to EIA that has a more global focus.

The IEA drastically lowered its long-term world oil supply forecast this spring - from nearly 120 million barrels a day to maybe 100 million per day by 2030 – citing access to resources as a major concern.

In making its predictions, EIA does factor in the growth of supplies from “nonconventional” oil, like oil from tar sands or biofuels made from plants. It also makes its projections based on current policy, which does not include things like laws restricting greenhouse gas emissions, which could potentially drive up the cost of fossil fuels.

Higher oil prices, combined with some government mandates, are expected to yield a boost in renewable energy use as well.

Renewables should account for 21% of all energy used in the U.S. by 2030, the agency said, up from about 15% currently. Last year EIA said renewable use would remain flat at 15% in 2030.

Under current policies, EIA predicts energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will slow in the years ahead, but will increase about 7% by 2030. Last year the agency said carbon dioxide emissions should grow by 15% by 2030.

Most climate scientists say the world needs to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 80% by 2050 if it is to avoid the worst effects of global warming. During the presidential campaign, President-elect Barack Obama pledged to cut U.S. emissions by that amount.

The EIA estimates that if the country were to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in 2030, electricity prices would rise by about 10% due to the costs of switching from cheap coal to more expensive wind or natural gas sources to produce electricity. The agency does not have projections for an 80% reduction by 2050.

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Organized labor ‘thrilled’ with Obama’s pick for labor secretary

(CNN) — Labor unions Thursday praised President-elect Barack Obama’s selection to head the Labor Department, Rep. Hilda Solis.

Rep. Hilda Solis is viewed as a strong advocate for working men and women by organized labor.

A Washington-based labor official for a major union told CNN’s John King that the California Democrat was Obama’s choice for labor secretary.

Obama is expected to officially announce his nomination of Solis during a press conference on Friday. Obama is also expected to name Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood as his choice for secretary of transportation.

Obama has enjoyed the support of organized labor since the campaign season, when the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor organization, endorsed him for president, calling him “a champion for working families.”

As a senator, Obama co-sponsored the Employee Free-Choice Act, which was designed to make it easier to create unions in the workplace. Supporters of the plan, including the AFL-CIO, said it would increase the number of union members in the United States and lead to better wages and benefits for workers.

If confirmed, Solis would be the third Hispanic to serve in Obama’s Cabinet, along with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Obama’s choice for secretary of commerce, and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, who Obama tapped to be secretary of the interior.

Obama had been criticized by some Latino groups, who said Hispanics were not being picked for key Cabinet positions after Richardson was passed over for secretary of state. Instead, Obama picked his former rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, to be his top diplomat.

Solis, a four-term congresswoman from Los Angeles, is considered to be one of the most liberal members of the House.

Solis served eight years in the California legislature and also worked in former President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Solis unseated former Rep. Matthew Martinez in a bitter Democratic primary in 2000.

Shortly after news broke that Solis would be joining Obama’s team, labor leaders issued press releases praising the president-elect’s choice.

“The daughter of two immigrant workers and union members … she will be a secretary of labor working men and women can finally count on to stand up and fight for them,” said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union.

“For Rep. Solis, serving as secretary of labor will not just be a job, but the culmination of a lifetime of action serving as a voice for people who work,” Stern said.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the nation’s largest organized labor organization was “thrilled” that Solis would be the next labor secretary.

“We’re confident that she will return to the labor department one of its core missions — to defend workers’ basic rights in our nation’s workplaces,” Sweeney said.

On Friday, Obama is expected to fulfill a promise to include Republicans in his administration by naming LaHood as his choice to head the Transportation Department. Obama has also decided to keep President Bush’s secretary of defense, Robert Gates. Watch reaction to LaHood joining Obama’s Cabinet »

LaHood, a seven-term congressman from Peoria, is respected on Capitol Hill, and his appointment as transportation secretary was hailed by both sides of the aisle.

Fellow Illinois Republican Rep. Tim Johnson welcomed the selection of LaHood, whom he calls one of his closest friends in Congress.

“I think Ray has the ability to work both sides of the aisle well,” Johnson said. “He’s an extraordinarily talented legislator.”

A Democratic House colleague from Illinois, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, also praised the selection.

“He’s a bipartisan guy,” she said. “He’s well-liked and respected.”

Schakowsky described LaHood as “easygoing and congenial” and said he has a record of working with Democrats in the Illinois delegation on a range of issues.

LaHood, 63, represents the Illinois district that includes the counties represented by Abraham Lincoln when he was a representative from 1847 to 1849. He is a member of the influential House Appropriations Committee

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