Courtney Speaks » Christian Business

Would You Be Interested?

Courtney — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:08:21 +0000

So I have this idea I have been praying about for the past week. It has to do with online business, blogging, and prayer. My three favorite topics! I wanted to run it by you, my readers, to hear thoughts on the matter and if it is something you would even be interested in.

Here it is, my big idea—

Online Business/Blog Prayer Group

It would work something like this – as I imagine it anyways. I would rent an online conference room (I already have one picked out ), and then Christian bloggers or Christians with online business and myself could all meet in the conference once a week and pray for one another. We would pray for each other blogs, businesses, any issues they having with their blog, etc. This would be free even though the conference room would cost money that comes out of my pocket. It would be a ministry tool.

So what do you think? Is this something you would be interested in? I would love to hear your thoughts!

What Are Your Obstacles?

Courtney — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:52:31 +0000

When running an online business of any nature you are bound to encounter some obstacles. Obstacles can come in many different shapes and forms, including clients, children, home life, yourself, maybe even your lack of faith.

Psalms 119:66 tell us “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.”

In my life and through running my online business, I have discovered that most of time my obstacles come from not following the path the Lord has laid out for me. However when I am following His path, doors seem to just open. So that is one obstacle I am learning to overcome.

To overcome this obstacle this is what I have been doing:

I started a business prayer journal
I pray daily for my business
I stay still and listen to what God is telling me (Ps. 46:10)
If I start a project and start having a major obstacles thrown in my way, I consult God

Another obstacle I have is distractions. While a lot of the time those distractions come in the form on my kids, they are usually good distractions. Most of the time anyways. The Internet is biggest distraction. I spend way too much time surfing the Internet and click on links that take me all over the World Wide Web. I have been praying about surpassing this obstacle and I know that with God’s help it will be possible to overcome this obstacle.

What obstacles do you face in your online business? What steps do you take to overcome them?

Being Set Apart

Courtney — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:14:06 +0000

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2

We are told in the Bible numerous times that we are not to be “conformed to this world”. While most people seem to think this only applies to our spiritual and personal lives, but I believe it also applies to our online and business lives as well.

If people cannot see a difference in you, then you are not setting yourself apart from the world. Same for your business, if people cannot see a difference in your business and the way you handle your business, then you are not setting yourself apart.

In business it is always said that you have to set yourself apart from your competitor. You have to make yourself stand out. I agree with this for the most part, but for a different reason than most. I think we should set our businesses apart from other business in the way we operate our business.

We should operate our online business in a Christian like manner. And that alone will set most businesses apart from others.

What do you do to separate your online business or blog from others?

Making Changes and Letting Go

Courtney — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:06:57 +0000

: clip board to do from Crestock High Quality Images

I’ve been listening to God and making changes in my online business and unfortunately while I was making some of those changes this blog got neglected. But no more!

Thanks to some great referrals my web design and development business is really taking off. I’ve have got awesome clients and they are not afraid to tell their friends about my work. This is great news, but it sure does keep me busy.

After talking with a good friend online I have decided that I have to learn how to let go. Let go of those projects that are not what God is wanting me to do. While I’ve been focusing on what God has been telling me to do, I still have some other projects that are taking up valuable time. So I’m letting those go and boy is it hard to do!

I mentioned last week that I started a new blog, WP Geek Girl, and while WordPress is one direction I believe the Lord is leading me in, I just don’t have the time to update another blog. So I’m moving it to this blog. You will be seeing much more posts about WordPress in the near future.

It’s hard work to put God in the forefront of your business but it is the only way to become a success.

Does Your Family Support You?

Courtney — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:00:58 +0000

: Portrait of a happy welcoming family from Yuri Arcurs Website

Do you have your family’s support for your online business and/or blog? Are they an encouragement or hindrance to you and your business? My husband is supportive when I’m making money and less so when I’m not. I don’t really blame him though. He doesn’t understand the way the Internet Marketing world works. I’m still learning myself.

Running my online business and blog is something I enjoy doing, even when my income takes a dive some months. I love being able to stay home with my kids but I need something that is my own and separate from the kids. My online business fills this need. It allows me to be creative and interact with other adults, even if it is just online. As along as I’m happy my family is happy.

One thing I struggle with is not letting my love of blogging and such to take over my life. My family and kids will always come first but it is easy to let blogging and Internet marketing to take up too much space in my day. There is a balance that I struggle to achieve at times. That is when the support of family comes into play the most for me. While my online business is important to me, my family is more important, and they constantly remind me of that.

Another thing that has helped me is prayer and God’s guidance. I believe I am following God’s will in my life through my online business and that makes balancing everything so much easier. If I feel like the Internet is over taking my world, I turn to God in prayer and ask Him for strength. After all, God is the reason I am even able to have an online business.

So, does your family support you? Do they understand why you run an online business or blog?

Setting Work at Home Goals for Your Christian WAHM Business

Courtney — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:48:23 +0000

photo credit: chrisjroos At the end of each year, work at home moms are bombarded with information and challenges to help them set goals and create the business of their dreams in the upcoming months.

But if you’re a Christian work at home mom who is seeking God’s will for her business, you may find many of these techniques just don’t work for you. If you’ve committed your business to God, and are building your business on faith, wordly wisdom won’t hold all the answers you need, and the material goals you set often won’t be achieved.

That is not to say you won’t be successful. I believe very much that God desires for us to be successful and to prosper. It’s just that your success won’t necessarily look or come about the way you expect.

Here are some goals that I set each year that have helped me build a business that puts God first. If you set goals like these, you will be on your way to honoring God in your business and finding your success in Him this year.

1. To spend time with God each day. I have learned to not start my day without a devotional time consisting of Bible reading and prayer. On days I skip my devotions, I just feel “off” for the rest of the day and unprepared for whatever my day brings. During your quiet time, you can ask God to prepare you for the day, give you wisdom for what you’ll face, and to make you ready for any opportunities He’s bringing to you.

2. To build relationships with other Christian business owners. Fellowship together and talk about how you see God working in your businesses. You will feel encouraged and strengthened in your walk of faith.

3. To set proper priorities. It’s easy for me to be consumed by my businesses and my blogs. But I know one of the reasons God wants me at home is to care for my family. If I’m too busy to help my children with their schoolwork, or to talk to my husband about his day at work, that’s a sign my priorities may not be right.

4. To seek wisdom. Learn from experienced work at home moms about how to build a business. But don’t ever assume that what has worked for them will work for you too. Instead, talk to God about what you’re learning and ask for His direction.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Denise Willms is a Publicity and Marketing Virtual Assistant and work at home mom of two teenagers. Do you want to know more about how you can work at home too? Visit www.wahm-articles.com and search for articles on the topic you’re most interested in. While you’re there, go ahead and subscribe the the WAHM Tips newsletter. You’ll get new WAHM expert articles delivered to your inbox each week!

Understanding Christian Business Opportunities For the Newbie

Courtney — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:00:19 +0000

: Hands typing on a laptop from Yuri Arcurs Website

There is so much information on how a Christian can start an online business and how they can get started by taking advantage of Christian business opportunities. Information overload is often the very thing that keeps the newbie that is new to internet marketing from starting their own home business.

If you have been seeking information on the internet for a business opportunity for any amount of time, you most likely have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of opportunities to take advantage of. The internet is full of online business opportunities and it can be very overwhelming for a newbie. There are so many informative programs on the internet that say they can guide the average person into learning how to run a successful business through using their marketing plans.

If you’re a newbie to the internet, don’t wait until after you have spent a lot of money, only to discover that a lot of opportunities on the internet are scams. Scammers are popping up all over the internet. Take the time and do your homework, and make sure it is a legitimate business opportunity with a good marketing plan.

Have you ever seen those business opportunity websites with pictures of cars, boats and a lot of cash, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment of temptation.They say you are going to make an enormous amount of money over night. They even go as far as to say you don’t need any knowledge or understanding of internet marketing, they will take care of every thing for you. Don’t give them your hard earned money only to get nothing in return. There is no such thing as get rich quick programs.

To start an online business and be successful, it is going to take some time and patience, and you have to be willing to learn and work at it in order to make it a successful business. Success does not happen over night, its not the Christian way.

Starting and maintaining an online business means hard work and the ability to learn marketing. You can’t put up a website and just forget it; you need to promote your business to be successful, and this is going to take some effort on your part. The Internet is a powerful marketing tool, if used correctly, and you’re willing to work at it, you will find the reward well worth it.

If your plan was to do a search for Christian business opportunities to find some business ideas to start an online business and you don’t have a lot of money to work with, you will discover that an online business does not require a large amount of money. All you need is a website, a domain name and good way to promote it.

Today, in the world of the internet, we have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to opportunities and business ideas. To start an online business you must understand, you’re going to sell a product or provide a service that can be done online. Let us check out some business ideas for an online business.

1. You can create a digital product and make your knowledge sell. Write a book? A how-to guide? A saleable manual? Your good at cooking and have your recipes that you have been keeping all to yourself, you can create your own e-book to sell online.

Everybody has literally hundreds of starting points! What is it that you love to talk about? A hobby? Golf, fishing, hunting, and so forth? What do you do for fun and games? What do you do day after day, sewing, knitting, making quilts, rugs, without even thinking about it?

Take the time and think about what you tend to do in a typical day, and what you’ve learned from it. What sections of a book store or a magazine shop do you automatically gravitate toward? What kind of TV shows do you tend to like most? Movies? As you can see you have picked up a lot of experience and knowledge and yours is based on what you already know.

2. Start an online business using a drop ship supplier. All you would need is a wholesale supplier who will drop ship products that you want to sell in your internet store, a low cost web site and a merchant account. With an online store you have the opportunity to sell just about anything, computers, DVD movies, small kitchen appliances, jewelry, the list goes on. The wholesale supplier charges you a set price for the products and your profit is the difference between that price and the price you charge your customers in your online store. The wholesale supplier will drop ship the product to your customer with your company name on the package.

3. Start an online business with affiliate programs. There is a lot of companies with Christian business opportunities that try to encourage people to promote their products on their website, blog, or email. In return, the said company will pay you a certain percentage of every sale. You can make anywhere from 5% to 75% profit depending on what company you choose to sign up with.

4. Start your own online auction. If you are into auctions and thinking about starting an online career as an auction seller then you may want to check out eBay. There are millions of people making an income selling on eBay full or part time. You can use eBay to sell just about any item you think of, or you can create your own website. You can sell just about anything on eBay.

5. Start a Christian bookstore. With an online a book store you don’t have the hassles of stocking inventory or shipping and handling products. You will also discover in today’s economy that a lot of people find it convenient to do their shopping online. More and more elderly people are also finding it convenient to do their shopping online so they can enjoy the comfort of their home.

These are just some of the online business ideas for a newbie to keep in mind when you’re doing a search for Christian business opportunities. This will give you a better understanding of what to look for, and help you come up with some good ideas of your own.

Our Christian Site at http://www.christianideas.net helps Christians to start a online business that will enable them with the tools needed to succeed in spreading God’s Word. For more information check out our FREE educational tutorials for Christian Business opportunities

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francis_Hirak

Books About Blogging the Bible

Courtney — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:52:54 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about blogging the Bible and different ways we as Christian bloggers and business owners can incorporate the Bible and Christian characteristics in our blogs and businesses. In the course of my research I have found that may be some books may be about this very topic, or at least the titles would make you think so.

The first book I saw is actually titled Blogging the Bible. Amazon does not say much about this book so I’m not sure what is about.

The second book I saw is called The Blogging Church. According to Amazon this book “offers church leaders a field manual for using the social phenomenon of blogs to connect people and build communities in a whole new way. Inside you will find the why, what, and how of blogging in the local church. Filled with illustrative examples and practical advice, the authors answer key questions learned on the frontlines of ministry: Is blogging a tool or a toy? What problems will blogging solve? How does it benefit ministry? How do I build a great blog? and Who am I blogging for?” It sounds like a very interesting book.

Another book I found is titled Blogging for God Devotional but Amazon does not tell me anything about this book either.

Have you found any books on the topic of blogging the Bible? If so, I would love to hear about them.

Let’s Talk Integration

Courtney — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:48:55 +0000

Today my friend LaTara had her first show on Blog Talk Radio. She did a great job and hit on some great points about following God’s will for your life in regards to your online business.

LaTara’s show is called Let’s Talk Integration and will be aired lived every Monday at 12:00pm CST. You can also listen to a replay of today’s show over at Blog Talk Radio as well. I highly recommend listening to the relay. LaTara gives out some great information and a listener who called in, JoJo, chimes in with great food for thought.

What the Bible Says About Blogging as a Business

Courtney — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:58:03 +0000

Not to long ago I wrote a post titled, “What Does The Bible Say About Blogging.” Of course the Bible doesn’t blogging by name and for many people blogging means different things. For some it is just a hobby and for others it is a business. For me it is both. I have my hobby blogs such as A Mom Speaks and then I have my business blogs like this one and Christian Mom PLR. I also have a ministry blog with a fellow sister in Christ, Faithful Bloggers. So for me, blogging means a lot of different things.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us, “The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.“ Since there is nothing new under the sun, I wanted to know what the Bible would say about blogging. I started by doing a topical study on business since I have a couple blogs that I operate as a business. The Bible has a lot to say about business and working.

One verse is Proverbs 14:23, “In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter [leads] only to poverty.“ Labor in this context means “painful diligence.” Basically this is saying that if you work hard there will be a profit. You can’t be lazy and just expect the money to start rolling in. Pray, work hard, and pray some more and that will bring profit.