Name: Elaine Tuccelli

          Business Name: Merry Treasure Shopper

          Business Description: Offering a variety of romantic, charming and whimsical new and time-worn     treasure for your home decor and specialty gift needs.

          Business URL: http://www.merrytreasureshopper.com

          Blog Name: Adventure's of the Merry Treasure Shopper

          Blog URL: http://www.merrytreasureshopper.blogspot.com/

          Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1150144670#!/pages/Merry-Treasure-Shopper/175851509562

          Twitter URL: none

         About You: I am happily married to my husband Rob. We have two sweet boys and a silly yellow lab. I am a Wahm (work at home mom) and I own my own website    http://www.merrytreasureshopper.com/ .

         About Your Faith: Catholic

         Favorite Bible Verse: Ephesians 3:17-19

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Prayer Request: Let me always be the best version of myself!


__________________________________________

Wishing You an Abundance of Blessings,



Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

I’m a homeschool mom, and recently we did a Bible lesson that manifested itself in my own life. Though there are many translations, this simple version used in our preschool homeschool sums it up beautifully:

“If one falls down, his friend can help him up.”
     ~Ecclesiastes 4:10

As a new homeschool mom (this is our very first year), I have been struggling with what path I should take to teach our 13 year old daughter. I was feeling torn between where my daughter “should” be according to secular standards, and choosing a path that fits her needs. The irony in my struggle was that finding the path that fits my daughter’s needs was the reason we chose to homeschool in the first place! Doubt and insecurity had set in, and I was scrambling trying to fill in the gaps left by her public school education......

To read the entire article hop on over to the latest Emphasis on Moms Newsletter...just scroll on down and read "The Life Changing Power of Friendship" in my column It's All About Relationships.


His Work in Progress,



Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

I want to send out a personal thank you and an update! Thanks to all of my faithful MUIBers that have made time to check in with me and see how things are going. I cannot tell you how much your love, friendship and support means to me!

I am happy to report that things are coming together here, behind the scenes. I have taken a bit of a hiatus as the Lord Himself has been guiding me, and leading me into His will as I have been getting my priorities and my house in order. I found that the frustration, chaos and lack of balance in my life was all due to me doing EVERYTHING in the flesh. While on the grand scale of supreme miracles the miracles that have taken place in my heart, my life and my home may not be as stunning as others, but to myself and my family the blessings that have come from the transformation the Lord has done for me is nothing less than amazing!

Those of my MUIB family that know me, know that I was truly all over the place. Stressed to the max. I brought every bit of it on myself. I have taken time away from online pursuits to allow the Lord to work within me and guide me to finally have the fruit of balance be a true manifestation in my life. This is only a temporary hiatus.

As I approach my 36th birthday, I am truly amazed at what the Lord has accomplished through me that I desperately tried to accomplish on my on (to no avail) for over 35 years!

I am actually still continuing my pursuit of true balance, and am getting new direction on what my calling is for MUIB and an upcoming ministry. However, this is in the planning stages, and I am pacing myself and planning as the Lord reveals to me a little at a time each day. I am super excited about the things to come, the new direction. This time I am doing it right, His way, not mine.

In the meantime He is leading me and helping me to keep chaos at bay, learning new habits, and following His list of priorities in His order. Amazing results! Just ask my kiddos and my husband....

Here is to a new beginning, a fresh start!

His Work In Progress,



Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

Guest Blogging Can Sap Your Energy if You’re Not Careful

Guest blogging means that you are writing blog posts for someone else. It may be that they asked you to do it and they are paying you. Or you are living out your dream of writing for a high-profile blogger who can get you noticed. Either way, blogging for others can become a drain on the creative juices.

There are advantages to writing blog posts for others:

• Exposure (the good kind)
• Name and brand recognition
• Business opportunity
• Chance to write on new topics

This is only a few of the reasons. But, when you decide to guest blog, be sure that there is time in your schedule to do it. As a business owner or the owner of a blog, or BOTH, you already have a long list of responsibilities.

If you are a parent with an online business, you are also juggling family life. Blogging can take a lot out of you. It is not easy to call up those creative urges on demand. With your own blog, you are familiar with the niche enough that you can write intelligently with minimal research if you needed to.

For guest blogging, you have to bring your “A” game. First of all, you are trying to make an impression on the owner. You do want to be invited back don’t you? Getting a sense of another’s “voice” does take practice. If they give you a list of the types of topics they would like you to talk about, you have to have time to do the preparation.

Keep Everything Balanced

While guest blogging is important for the four reasons listed at the beginning, so is your business. With so much time going into the posts for another, your own work can suffer if you’re not mindful. Your own readers and clients won’t let that slide and they shouldn’t have to either.

If you decide to endeavor into guest blogging, remember a few things:

• Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Keep your posts at a manageable number.
• Don’t commit to more than one blog at a time.
• Schedule time to write your posts and those for the guest blog (you may need to let your blog go for a couple of days in order to write enough posts to schedule for the weeks you will be blogging elsewhere.)

If you want to guest blog, go ahead. It’s a great way to stretch your writing muscles. But, while you are stretching, don’t overextend or your visitors may feel the pain.


Your Personal BCBB Coach,

P.S. I am very choosy about affiliate programs I promote, and only promote products that are high quality and will provide real information my readers, friends and family can use (I always ask myself, is this a product I would recommend to my sister for her business?). I highly recommend the following links and know that they will help you in your effort to run a successful blog. Keep in mind, these are to benefit those new to blogging, so if you are already a pro, there is no need for you to check these out. New to blogging? These links will help. ;)

5 Ways To Sabotage A Blog Before Starting And How To Avoid
Them

Blogging Starter Pack Blog

Unleash The Selling Power of Your Blog eCourse


Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

Networking Opportunities Made Possible by Guest Blogging

Just like in the offline world, sometimes it is “who you know” that counts. In online business, there are many ways to network with other business owners. One way is through guest blogging.

You are building your business and making your mark in cyberspace. As a complement to your business, you start a blog. It is a place where readers and customers can interact with you, find out about new product offerings and get business information.

Networking is important for business owners. You can find new partners for business ventures, resources for upcoming product launches and ways to increase your visibility. Those who you give a chance to may turn around and offer you a helping hand one day.

There are two facets to networking through guest blogging:

• You as guest blogger
• Guest bloggers on your blog

You as Guest Blogger

Through your work, you make contact with suppliers, clients and other business people. Everyone that they know is a potential new contact for you. One of your clients or those in your business circle may ask you to guest blog for them. If you know the person and their reputation, this may be a no-brainer.

With their influence, you are opening yourself up to a new audience of business owners and other readers who can be of use to you. Always bring your best work to a guest spot just as you would on your own site. You want to be remembered (in a good way).

• Interact with your audience. Ask questions in your posts that they can respond to via comments. Answer comments with advice and a friendly voice.
• Add a website or blog link to our bio box so interested readers can find you.
• Post links to the guest blog posts on your website to interest your readership. This builds trust and expert status.

Guest Bloggers on Your Blog

Finding the right guest blogger is not easy. Getting the cream of the crop is even harder, especially if you are not well-known. Even so, only extend the invitation to those that you trust and have read their work.

• Ask friends who have blogs or online businesses and clients with expertise to blog for you. They can give your readers a new insight into what you do. Besides, you are also bringing their readers to your place for a look see.
• Set down ground rules: No foul language in posts or comments. Stick to the topic assigned. All work is to be reviewed before publishing. A bad incident could get you labeled and cause the larger, more influential bloggers to shy away from you.

Networking is needed to get your name on everyone’s screen. Use both sides of guest blogging to make your own networking opportunities with those who can benefit from a reciprocal relationship.


Your Personal BCBB Coach,

P.S. I am very choosy about affiliate programs I promote, and only promote products that are high quality and will provide real information my readers, friends and family can use (I always ask myself, is this a product I would recommend to my sister for her business?). I highly recommend the following links and know that they will help you in your effort to run a successful blog. Keep in mind, these are to benefit those new to blogging, so if you are already a pro, there is no need for you to check these out. New to blogging? These links will help. ;)

5 Ways To Sabotage A Blog Before Starting And How To Avoid
Them

Blogging Starter Pack Blog

Unleash The Selling Power of Your Blog eCourse


Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

Maximize Your Time with Guest Bloggers

When you operate a blog, with or without the online business to go with it, it takes up a lot of your time. Readers want fresh content on a regular basis. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with their voracious appetite unless you have help.

Blogging Help

Seek out writers for your blog. Think of it as another writing project. If you are familiar with ghostwriting services, you can hire writers to write posts for you that you can then publish yourself. With this type of help, you are asking a writer or writing service, to provide you with content for your website or blog. The credit goes to you for the work.

Finding a guest blogger is different from outsourcing blog content. With guest bloggers, they are getting a chance to write for your blog but with the posts being credited to them. You’ve got a few options about how you approach a guest blogging situation.

1. You can look for an ongoing contributor who blogs on a regular basis for your blog. Some contributors will blog for free as long as you’re giving them credit and helping them with their own blog or website promotions.

2. You can hire a writer to write for your blog (this will require payment, especially if you’re looking to claim the content as your own). For a certain fee, you can assign them topics and ask that they write one or two blog posts per week. Usually one is enough unless you are truly busy and need more to fill the space.

3. You can ask other experts in your field to post occasionally to help relieve some stress from having to post yourself all the time. Most of these guest bloggers will oblige and do not require any more than a link or two to their site or products in their posts.

Benefits of Guest Bloggers

Now, you can breathe a little easier. You want to keep your blog fresh and new but there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day at times. A guest blogger can take that pressure off of you so that you can devote your time to other needs:

• Marketing
• Networking
• Administrative Duties

As long as your readers stay happy, you can rotate a guest writer in and out to provide them with interesting content. Guests can also respond to reader comments and build a relationship of trust with your audience. If they have their own traffic from their sites, you have a chance to impress their readership when they come to read the posts. They can also browse your work and take an interest.

At the beginning, you may have to review posts and schedule their publication just until you feel comfortable with the writers and their styles. Once you see they do a good job, let them publish their posts immediately or schedule them without your help. This will go a long way in saving you time.

The first time that you don’t have to write several blog posts over the weekend or in your wee spare time, you won’t want to go back. How long a writer will blog for you depends on your needs, but the extra time may lead you to make it an ongoing thing.

Besides the fact that you are benefiting, so is the guest writer. They gain a reputable forum for their work, possible networking opportunities and greater visibility.


Your Personal BCBB Coach,

P.S. I am very choosy about affiliate programs I promote, and only promote products that are high quality and will provide real information my readers, friends and family can use (I always ask myself, is this a product I would recommend to my sister for her business?). I highly recommend the following links and know that they will help you in your effort to run a successful blog. Keep in mind, these are to benefit those new to blogging, so if you are already a pro, there is no need for you to check these out. New to blogging? These links will help. ;)

5 Ways To Sabotage A Blog Before Starting And How To Avoid
Them

Blogging Starter Pack Blog

Unleash The Selling Power of Your Blog eCourse



Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.

In my post, Are Your Priorities Out of Whack? Part 1, I discussed how if you want to run your business by the Book, you need to run your life by the Book:

1. God FIRST and FOREMOST above ALL else.
2. Your Husband (whether he is a believer or not).
3. Your Children.
4. Your Home.
5. EVERYONE and EVERYTHING else (this includes your business!).

1. God FIRST and FOREMOST above ALL else:

• Each day I begin with my journal, taking quiet time to recognize the blessings in my life, the abundance in my life by writing at least 10 things I am grateful for. I then write a letter to my Heavenly Father thanking Him, celebrating a new day regardless of where I am in my journey. I then write my honest feelings, struggles, trials, celebrations, and all that I need to take to Him. I seek His will through prayer and turning to His word. I write out my prayer requests. Often I go back to my previous entries and write in red the answers to my prayers. I keep in mind that God answers ALL prayers, there are no answered prayers. Sometimes He says yes, sometimes no, and often wait. In His time. Not mine. His will. Not mine. 

***Please note, I completely understand how making quiet time a priority every morning is difficult. Trust me! I have four kiddos of my own, ages 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and 13 years. I will tell you that my family prefers to give me my quiet time NOW, as they have seen what a difference it makes in me and our day. If you miss a day here and there, do not beat yourself up, just start fresh the next day.

Now, my quiet time is such a part of our lives that my children respect the fact Mama is having her quiet time, and it is something I look forward to each and every morning. Once you dedicate yourself to putting this in to practice (as difficult as it may be at first) you will see such a difference, and the Lord will begin to really move in your life.

If you want to know the Lord's will for your life, spend time with Him, pray, and He will indeed direct your paths. Each of our spiritual journeys are personal and as unique as we are. If you do NOTHING else, please do THIS. It is all about relationship, my friend. Our Heavenly Father wants relationship with each of us, and He wants to guide us. All you have to do is make the time to connect with Him daily, and He will meet you there. Do not give up if it takes a bit of time to feel the connection. He is there.

• Around the Word in 360 Days: Each and every night my husband, myself and our oldest daughter have our Bible reading, as we are reading the entire Bible together this year. Honestly, this is actually the best Bible reading program I have ever come across! We started in January, but please, if you have yet to start a Bible reading program download this one and just start on Day 1 and go from there (it's free). We have so much fun, real FUN. We are learning so much, spending time learning God's word, and not a session goes by that we do not laugh and connect. We pray together, taking turns. This has taken a bit of getting used to, but I am telling you once you let go, it ROCKS!

2. Your Husband (whether he is a believer or not):

• Steve and I began doing daily couple's devotions January 1, and this too has had a huge impact in our   marriage and our lives. We are using "The One Year Devotions for Couples" by David and Teresa Ferguson, and have even starting having a Marriage Meeting once a week, as suggested in the book.  While it is difficult at times, our husbands should be our number one priority outside of God Himself. Our children, their needs, their wants, etc. come after our husbands. Just think of the gift you are giving to your children by making your marriage a priority...you are giving your children an example of what a healthy, strong God centered marriage is to be, AND your family unit will be stronger. Keep in mind, however, that this does not apply to abusive relationships or any action that is in conflict with the Book.

In our first meeting we prayed together and then discussed-
__the plans for the next week
__agreed to me having a few hours off each week to rest or take care of lesson plans, go to the library, etc.
__agreed to having "date nights" (once a month outside of the house, once a month at home after kiddos are down for the night...as a matter of fact, hubby and I are having a date night tonight and going to see a play at our local theater...see, I am practicing what I preach!)
__tithing
__handling our taxes/bills/finances
__decided on one night a week for family game night, and one night a week game night with teen


3. Your Children:

• Teaching, loving, caring for and spending time with my children come only after God, and my husband. Meaning, if I am with one, or all of my children they have my undivided attention. If the phone rings I allow the answering machine to get it, emails wait, things others need from me (other than my husband) are put aside and I am ALL THERE for my children. No more talking about how important they are to me, yet having my actions show the opposite (that work, extended family, friends, real life or online people needing support or counsel whether personal or business related are my priority). It is so true our actions speak so much louder than our words. 

4. Your Home:

• Make caring for your home priority over all outside influences. Make your house a HOME.

5. Everyone and everything else (this includes your business and/or church activities)!


Doing all of these things, and making them priority above all else has not only changed my life, my heart, our marriage, but has impacted the lives of our children in ways that I just cannot even put into words.

For Valentine's Day, my husband bought me the book, "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. Now, let me tell you, this was a God directed divine gift! My husband had no idea how this one book would validate my personal path and change our lives. My husband took the time to write a love note in the book, and THEN went through the entire book writing random notes of love and encouragement. I highly suggest you get and read this book cover to cover if you have not already. Not only does this book validate my own personal journey in prioritizing, but goes into great detail of how to apply these principles into practice. Isn't it just awesome how God works?

Now, please understand, as I do my very best to put all of the above in place in my own life, there are many times that I continue to fall short. This is not about perfection, it is about striving to be the very best we can with the Lord's help. Our Christian walk, our spiritual journeys are life long endeavors. Our goal is to grow in spiritual maturity.

What does all of this have to do with business? As I stated before, if you want to run your business by the Book, first you need to run your life by the Book. I know some of you may be reading and thinking, well I am an independent woman, I will not cater to my husband, my children...I have bills to pay, is she crazy?

Friend, listen to me...everything you do in the flesh will never compare to what the Lord Himself can and will do in your life if you surrender to Him. I cannot even begin to imagine or know what God's will is for your own life, or your own business. I do know, that YOU can find out by going to Him and asking for Him to guide you.

Be prepared, however. He may very well lead you in a direction you may not willingly want to go. I just went through that very same struggle (kicking and screaming the whole way!).

I'd love to hear your thoughts!


His Work in Progress,



Jenn Rogers, aka MiniVan Mama, is the owner and founder of Moms United In Business, and is a Christian homeschooling, freelance writing, work at home mom of four. She specializes in coaching and mentoring work at home moms, teaching them to run successful and profitable businesses based on Christian principles. Her husband and her children are a constant source of awe and inspiration. She believes in the power of prayer and she believes in miracles.  She is learning daily to seek and follow God's will, to stay humble and to serve others with love and gratitude. Feel free to contact Jenn directly at momsunited (at) msn (dot) com, or connect with her on twitter and Facebook.