The New American Dream

It used to be that when people spoke of “living the American dream”, it referred to being successful, wealthy, and having a lot of stuff. But things have changed. Our economy is different and our values are different. Now the American dream is more about personal fulfillment, valuing family over career and living comfortably rather than lavishly.

This societal shift is what has motivated many people to find ways to work from home. I first started my efforts to work from home in 2004 when my youngest child was 2 and my oldest was entering her teen years. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to school full time for a year in 2003 but the money ran out and I had to go back to work, even though I wanted nothing more than to stay home. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how I could do that while still making enough money to support my family as a single mom so I had to work outside of the home.

Here it is 4 years later and I’m on the threshold of living my own American dream. I’m not quite there yet because its still a struggle to make enough to pay my bills since starting my own VA business, but the important thing is that I’m trying.

A lot of my time is spent working on developing my business and building a client list. So I pay close attention to certain blogs and websites written by Internet marketers. (Side note: the fact that the initials “IM” used to refer to instant messaging but is now more commonly used to refer to Internet marketers is a good example how our use of the web has changed!)

Anyway, I’ve mentioned that two of my favorite sources of IM info are Alice Seba of Internet Marketing Sweetie and Kelly McCausey of Moms Talk Network. Another favorite of mine is Lynn Terry of Click Newz and Self Starter Weekly Tips. (Lynn has some great tips and a ton of information, most of it is FREE, which you can access via the Self Starter archives. In addition to her Click Newz blog and Self Starter newsletter, she also has a discussion forum and she hosts a weekly webinar.)

A few days ago, Lynn published a post entitled “Starting a Free Online Business“. Now if you’re looking for a way to start working at home or if you’re already working from home but want to increase your WAH income, Lynn discusses the four basic ways of earning both active and passive income:

• Selling a product (crafts, books)
• Selling a service (virtual assistance, coaching)
• Sell advertising on your website or blog (banner links, AdSense)
• Promote others’ products or services (affiliate marketing)

Most of us already know that these types of online businesses exist but what you may not know is how to get started. Not only does Lynn explain how, she tells you how you can do this for $10 or less and, in some cases, for free.

If you’re interested in starting your own online business or adding more income to your current business, I highly recommend reading not only this post but also subscribe to Lynn’s newsletter, read some of her archived articles and posts, and attend her webinars on Tuesday mornings.