Podcasts about my homemaking mentor

Welcome back to the next episode in our practical homemaking series. We haven't had an episode on marriage in a while, so today is a fun one (and maybe a much needed discussion)! We are chatting about how to keep (or reestablish) fun in your marriage. I'm also sharing a couple of fun announcements. Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: INCREDIBLE things coming for My Homemaking Mentor, our online training academy for Christian Women...you are going to want to be part of this! Join our FREE community to follow along with the podcast and more: Finding Joy Community. As a reminder, we will be taking a Summer hiatus as of June 1st until September. You can still find up to date content and more in the community all summer!  

On the podcast this month we've been talking all about product launches. We covered the big picture overview of how to launch a product and how to work with affiliates to help sell your product.  Today is my favorite episode yet. We are going to be talking about how to create a free opt-in offer that leads to the sale of your product. So let's jump in!  What is a free opt-in offer? This comes under many names - a freebie, freemium, lead magnet, opt-in offer, etc. But they are all essentially the same thing. It's an awesome piece of content that you giveaway for free. Your readers sign up for it with their email address.  It's an amazing way to grow your audience but it also provides incredible value for your readers. My readers are always thanking me for the awesome free content I give away!  Benefits of creating an opt-in offer Grows your email list This one is obvious. This is usually the #1 reason why people giveaway an opt-in in offer. They want to build up and grow their email list. This is great, but if you combine it with an email sequence and a product in mind, it can really push the needle!  Nurtures cold subscribers before selling to them A free opt-in gets people onto your email list. And it also nurtures them from cold subscribers into raving fans. Throughout your free opt-in offer and a subsequent email sequence, these new readers really get to know you and build that trust.  Great to share on guest posts A free opt-in offer gives you something extremely valuable to share on other people's blogs as guest posts. You COULD be a guest poster on someone's blog and share your product. But you probably won't get very many sales.  Those readers don't know you from Adam, they don't trust you, they don't yet love you. But GIVE them something awesome for FREE and they get to know you.  Affiliates can share very easily This is usually my #1 reason for creating a free opt-in. My own readers know me pretty well by now and know if they want a product I come out with. But my affiliates audiences don't know me. Creating an awesome free offer that is easy for your affiliates to share, helps you gain a new audience to sell to AND your affiliates can sell more easily.  Easy to push really hard and then do the actual selling over email It's so easy to push a free offer insanely!! You can share it on your blog, Facebook live, all over Instagram, in your emails, guest posts, etc. No one gets tired of hearing about a great free product!  So you can push this really hard without feeling like you are selling! And then you can nurture them through an email sequence where you sell hard.  Examples of our freebies: Finding Joy in Your Home Free eCourse This is by far our most popular free offer. It's a mini-eCourse called Finding Joy in Your Home. This has become my main free offer for my blog and eventually leads to a sell of our academy, My Homemaking Mentor.  This works well because MHM is our most expensive item. So giving them a full course as a FREEBIE works well. Plus, the academy is video based. So giving them a free PDF wouldn't be nearly as effective as a free video series so they can get used to me on video and how I teach.   14 Days of Praying for Your Husband & Marriage This is a freebie that we launched at the beginning of this year. It's a card set that is designed to be used over 14 days. It has a scripture and a prayer topic on each card. These were super popular!  They lead to a marriage bundle of resources and are the perfect lead in to more printable products!  5 Keys to Planning a Successful Day The meat of this freebie was an in depth PDF that I put together that was essentially a mini training manual. I wanted to include a video component however, so I took that training and turned it into a video. So the reader has the choice of reading it or listening to it. It also includes a few bonus printables. This was our free opt-in for the 2016 homemaking conference. Here are some other freebie ideas If you are a photographer: Create a checklist of essential newborn shots to get If you want to launch a natural home course: Create 5 homemade recipe cards and a bonus video If you want to sell an essential oils eBook: Create an essential oils cheatsheet that they can hang on their fridge The free opt-in doesn't have to be big, long, or complicated! Just make sure that it is related (the same subject and the same teaching medium (i.e. video, audio, book, printable, etc). as the product you want to sell.  How to deliver your freebie: If your product is a simple file (one PDF, an eBook, etc.)  ConvertKit - Email Service Provider Our email service provider is ConvertKit and they make it SUPER easy to deliver a simple file. We use this to deliver all our single file freebies like a printable pack or PDF.  ConvertKit is the #1 email service provider that we use and recommend (after trying out several others). You can try them out here. Amazon s3 Hosting If your email service provider doesn't offer an easy way to deliver simple products, then I highly recommend Amazon s3. You can easily upload files and then grab a link to share.  And the beautiful thing: You ONLY pay for how many times people download the file. So you can have 100 products store in there, but you only pay every time someone actually downloads that file. And it's a few cents per download so it's not bad! We have dozens of products hosted in there and we pay a few dollars a month (but this isn't our MAIN storage mind you).  Leadpages If you use Leadpages for your landing pages, they also offer simple lead magnet deliver. I used Leadpages for about 2 years and like them for what they do: very simple landing pages.  But we have since moved all of our landing pages to ClickFunnels and have been very happy. We've been with ClickFunnels for over a year now. If you want to try it out, you can get a 14 day free trial. DO NOT JUST UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG PLEASE do not just upload simple files to your blog. It's very easy to do but it's NOT what you want to do. For 1) Every single time someone downloads that file from the link on your blog, it takes bandwidth. This can significantly slow down your blog or even crash it! Plus, if you use too much it will cost hundreds of dollars a month to up that bandwidth amount. And 2) Those links are all public and searchable. So someone could just search in google and find that link without having to sign up.  Even though it takes a bit more work, please find another way to deliver your simple files.  Delivering Courses & Training:  This is where things get a little more complicated. If you want to deliver a freebie that isn't just a simple file to download, you need something more advanced.  What we use: Kajabi We have been using Kajabi for about a year and a half now and it's the VERY best solution we have ever been able to find. I am in love with Kajabi!  Kajabi is a system that allows you to create a website to deliver all your free and paid content. We really needed a place where our customers could log in and access everything they've ever purchased from us - all in one spot!  Kajabi gives us that plus everything we need. It IS expensive, but if you want to develop a library of resources like we have, then I highly recommend it. You can check it out here.  Our Work at Home Life is built here on Kajabi and you can see how we use it with our other business, Homemaking Ministr Teachable  Teachable is another popular option. It does not have all the bells and whistles that Kajabi does so it doesn't work for us and I do not like it as much as Kajabi.  However, it has a lower barrier to entry because you can start off cheaper. They have a limited FREE plan where you pay per sale you make and a basic plan that starts at $39 a month.  For the long run, I prefer Kajabi. But if you don't have the funds and want to just try something out, you can always start with Teachable and then change over later. It's not that big of deal!  Thinkific Thinkific is another popular one but I don't know very much about it beyond that I know some people use it. But they also offer a limited FREE plan. So if you are tight on funds, this is another one to try out!  Plugins for Wordpress If you run a Wordpress website, there are some plugins you can purchase that can allow you to turn your website into a membership site so people can log in to view the courses or videos.  I will warn you though: We've tried many of these in the past trying to come up with a good solution and it IS a lot of work! If I were starting over today, I would head straight to New Kajabi, Teachable, or Thinkific. I think there is very little reason to host it on your own website.  BUT if you want to explore that option, here are a few we've tried in the past: Course Cats Wishlist Member Zippy Courses My personal favorite: Optimize Press So what's next? Now that you've got your free opt-in and you are sharing it with your readers, what now? Set up an email sequence Now you want to set up an email sequence. You start out with a "welcome" email. Then over the course of a week or two (or three) you deliver great content and casually mention that you've got a new product coming. The entire time your goal is to provide more valuable content for your readers.  Then when your product goes on sale: Email them like crazy! Again, make sure your focus is on helping your audience and providing more value. But nows your time to make a strong case for your new product.  If you have a standard 7-8 day sales week, then I suggest emailing them 2-3 times during that week. And then 2-3 times on that final day! Trust me: I know that seems like a lot of emails but it works!  In the next episode we are going to share all about launch week of your product! Now that your product is created and you've got an email list ready from your free optin, what do you do during launch week? Episode #5 will cover all that and more! NOTE: We do all of our email sequences in ConvertKit, it's one of the main reasons we switch to it from ConvertKit (as well as the ability to do advanced tagging. Here's a preview of setting up an email sequence in ConvertKit, they make it so easy! Download our FREE Product Launch Checklist!  I know this is a TON of information! So I distilled it all down into a handy printable product launch checklist for you. All you have to do is fill it out for you next product launch and you are well on your way to a successful launch.  To download the FREE checklist, simply sign up here and download right away! 

Today is a little big different. Instead of talking about a homemaking topic, I've got Jason with me today and we are going to share a little update about our family and our ministry.  About 18 months ago we shared a ministry update in episode #26. This was our announcement that Jason had left his full time job in sales to run our ministry full time. So that was a fun announcement but a LOT has happened in the last 18 months. So we wanted to do a NEW update on what's going on.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Listen to the full interview above with Jason and I and then skim through what we talked about below.  Family & Ministry Update We had a busy 2016! We started off the year with a bang and went right into our kickstarter campaign for our online training academy, My Homemaking Mentor. The kickstarter campaign was a giant success and in July of 2016, My Homemaking Mentor was released to the public.  Psst: My Homemaking Mentor is currently closed down for enrollment, but will open up again in the Fall of 2017. You can sign up here to get notified when enrollment opens.  Then in August we rolled right into our Homeschooling Conference and got right into preparing for our 2016 Homemaking Ministries Online Conference. This was our third annual online conference and it was amazing! Then this carried us through the end of October and into Christmas.  We had a great full year of business and running it full time. It was a really exciting and full year. But for our family, we also had some exciting things happening.  Our Growing Family In the first week of May 2016, we got a very special surprise blessing. Malachi & Micah were 3 years old and Remington & Ryder were only 9 months old...and we found out we were expecting!  We later came to find out that we were expecting a single girl due in January 2017. She is now 4 months old and doing so well!  We were not expecting to be pregnant in our first full year of business but we are so thankful now that God's plans are not our own plans. It made 2016 a little tricky in certain ways, but we are loving our family with five kids four and under.  By the way - Do you want to keep up on our family happenings every week? Come check out our weekly YouTube videos - A Week in the Life of the Balmet Family! We show a peek into our life with five kids under five and running a growing business from home. 2017 and Beyond It's June now and I feel like each day is getting easier and easier. Malachi and Micah are almost 4 and a half. Remington & Ryder turn 2 in about 2 weeks. And Magnolia is nearly 5 months old. We are all setting into our new normal and picking our routines back up.  On the business front, we have some exciting plans for 2017!! Here's a sneak peek of what we have coming up:  Homemaking Ministries Store This is kind of my baby project this year that I am pouring a lot of love and time into. We are working on building up our store with physical products!! Right now we have Christian t-shirts and Scripture memory cards. But we are slowly working on building our store up into 15-20 items by the end of 2017.  In fact, we have a shipment of new products on our way to our house right now! It's been so fun play with mailing out these amazing goodies! Jason and I have some really incredible plans and ideas for this store for this year.  Homemaking Ministries Online Conference 2017  TICKETS are coming SOON for our 4th annual online homemaking conference! Sign up here to get notified when tickets go on sale!!  Our Work at Home Life Jason's big project for this year is our brand new website: Our Work at Home Life. We have been working hard for about a year on this new vent...

Today is a little big different. Instead of talking about a homemaking topic, I've got Jason with me today and we are going to share a little update about our family and our ministry.  About 18 months ago we shared a ministry update in episode #26. This was our announcement that Jason had left his full time job in sales to run our ministry full time. So that was a fun announcement but a LOT has happened in the last 18 months. So we wanted to do a NEW update on what's going on.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Listen to the full interview above with Jason and I and then skim through what we talked about below.  Family & Ministry Update We had a busy 2016! We started off the year with a bang and went right into our kickstarter campaign for our online training academy, My Homemaking Mentor. The kickstarter campaign was a giant success and in July of 2016, My Homemaking Mentor was released to the public.  Psst: My Homemaking Mentor is currently closed down for enrollment, but will open up again in the Fall of 2017. You can sign up here to get notified when enrollment opens.  Then in August we rolled right into our Homeschooling Conference and got right into preparing for our 2016 Homemaking Ministries Online Conference. This was our third annual online conference and it was amazing! Then this carried us through the end of October and into Christmas.  We had a great full year of business and running it full time. It was a really exciting and full year. But for our family, we also had some exciting things happening.  Our Growing Family In the first week of May 2016, we got a very special surprise blessing. Malachi & Micah were 3 years old and Remington & Ryder were only 9 months old...and we found out we were expecting!  We later came to find out that we were expecting a single girl due in January 2017. She is now 4 months old and doing so well!  We were not expecting to be pregnant in our first full year of business but we are so thankful now that God's plans are not our own plans. It made 2016 a little tricky in certain ways, but we are loving our family with five kids four and under.  By the way - Do you want to keep up on our family happenings every week? Come check out our weekly YouTube videos - A Week in the Life of the Balmet Family! We show a peek into our life with five kids under five and running a growing business from home. 2017 and Beyond It's June now and I feel like each day is getting easier and easier. Malachi and Micah are almost 4 and a half. Remington & Ryder turn 2 in about 2 weeks. And Magnolia is nearly 5 months old. We are all setting into our new normal and picking our routines back up.  On the business front, we have some exciting plans for 2017!! Here's a sneak peek of what we have coming up:  Homemaking Ministries Store This is kind of my baby project this year that I am pouring a lot of love and time into. We are working on building up our store with physical products!! Right now we have Christian t-shirts and Scripture memory cards. But we are slowly working on building our store up into 15-20 items by the end of 2017.  In fact, we have a shipment of new products on our way to our house right now! It's been so fun play with mailing out these amazing goodies! Jason and I have some really incredible plans and ideas for this store for this year.  Homemaking Ministries Online Conference 2017  TICKETS are coming SOON for our 4th annual online homemaking conference! Sign up here to get notified when tickets go on sale!!  Our Work at Home Life Jason's big project for this year is our brand new website: Our Work at Home Life. We have been working hard for about a year on this new vent...

Welcome to our brand new podcast: Our Work at Home Life with Jason & Jami. Each week we are going to bring you these mini-training sessions with practical hands on resources for growing your own blog or online business! This podcast has been a LONG time coming, and Jason and I are both so excited to kick it off. Today we are going to be sharing a little bit about our story, how we came to work from home full time, and how we make our money.  If you are curious about how it's possible to work from home full time running an online business (and how you can do it too!), then this episode is for you. Then make sure to head back for our next episode. We are going to be jumping straight into our training sessions when we chat about how to launch your very own digital product.  Our Story I started my very first blog back in 2009. I fell in love with blogging and then in 2012 I started our main blog, Young Wife's Guide. I had no idea at that time that it would become our family's full time income in just three short years. The very first thing we made some money on was an eBook on gardening that I sold for $5.95. I was making like $20 here or there and it was SO exciting!! Later that year, I was approached by a friend to put my book in this brand new eBook bundle she was putting together. That year my gardening book was in the first ever Healthy Living Bundle and I made a few hundred dollars! I think this was a turning point for us. We realized that I could actually make a little income from this.  So my goal was to be able to build this up a little bit to have a small side income for when we had kids and I stayed home. Slowly we started working on this blog and building up a bit of side income.  And then in December of 2015, Jason quit his full time job in sales to be able to come home and run our businesses from home.  We've now been running our online businesses full time for over 18 months and I don't think we could ever go back! This business and running it from home has become such a blessing to our family.  How we make money One of the biggest things that people ask us is how we make an income from home. They hear that we run a blog full time and people assume we must run ads on our blog.  But in reality - we actually don't run ANY outside ads on our blog. So how do we make money? Here's the breakdown (these numbers are approximate):  20% of our income comes from affiliate sales & sponsored posts 80% of our income comes from selling our own products: digital items, courses, conferences, our academy, etc.    Breakdown of 20%  These are the percentages for 2016. These seem to be holding true for 2017 but there are still a lot of months in the year left, so that could change.  Affiliate Sales Being an affiliate for companies is a wonderful way to start making a little bit of income. It's easy in some ways because you don't have to have your own products or anything.  Basically you sign up for an affiliate program with some business or product you already love. They give you a special affiliate link which you then share on your blog, social media, etc. Then whenever anyone purchases something through that link, you get a percentage of that sale.  So for Young Wife's Guide (a homemaking blog), that means that I've been an affiliate for natural cleaners, a meal planning website, amazon book recommendations, and more.  Sponsored Posts I also work with companies on a VERY limited basis to do sponsored posts. What this means is that a company will pay me up front to promote their business or product to my audience.  I do these on a very limited basis and ONLY ever do it for companies that I 100% believe in and would recommend their products anyway. One thing for 2017 we are exploring more is podcast sponsorship for my homemaking podcast: The Homemaking Foundations Podcast.  Breakdown of 80%  We've done a few things in our business life that has made all the difference!! The first thing was starting our online conference 4 years ago, and the second thing was starting an online digital store. Here's some more details: Homemaking Ministries Store I've been creating digital products for years. The more products we added, the more we realized that we needed a central "store" for all our products. I DREAMED of having a library where my customers could log in and access everything they've purchased from me under one login.  So we paid for an expensive custom website which ended up not working and eventually landed on using New Kajabi for our store (which is what this website is also now run on). And we are in LOVE. It's not perfect and still has a few minor things we would change, but overall it has everything we need! (And don't worry  - we plan on covering Kajabi in depth in the future and breaking down everything we love about itOur Conference The other thing that has had the most impact is launching our first every online conference in 2014! We had no idea what we were doing, figuring out the technology was a NIGHTMARE, but here we are on our 4th year and still going strong. Our conference has opened up the door to working with other bloggers and ultimately creating our online academy: My Homemaking Mentor!  The vast majority of our income comes from selling those two products: our annual conference and our academy. The other smaller products help to fill in the gaps. Every $20 here and there really adds up and helps us pay our bills!  Our Next Big Project:  The next big project that we will be turning our attention to is our physical store. We have started an online store with physical products. So far we have t-shirts and Scripture memory cards in the store, but we are slowly working on adding more items to that.  Our goal by the end of the year is to have 15-20 items in the store!! This has been a really fun new adventure into the realm of physical products, shipping, and sending things out.  You can see our store here: Homemaking Ministries Store. And then make sure to stay tuned next week for episode #2. We are going to be talking about How to launch a digital product - a big picture overview!

Motherhood is such an incredible blessing but there are days when it's really tough. Days when we feel overwhelmed and weary. Days when we desperately need just a little encouragement.  And today, I am delighted to introduce you to two ladies who are going to do just that. Between the two of them they have 16 kids and each one knows a thing or two about being discouraged in their motherhood.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.    Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Feeling weary and overwhelmed is a common issue within motherhood. Honestly, much of the last four years I have felt weary and overwhelmed. This first advice comes from Jennifer, mother of 11 kids and is so encouraging and convicting! In the audio above or the video below, Jennifer wisely shares three reasons why you might be feeling wearing.  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy – My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It’s the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker…and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won’t open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 13 others!  Why You Might Be Weary 1) You are doing too much If you are weary and overwhelmed, maybe your plate is too full. You are trying to do too much and you just don't enjoy doing these anymore because there are just too many things to be done (this is my life all the time)!  Maybe you are involved in too many activities. Too many things that pull you away from your home. Or too many distractions on the computer that are competing for your attention. Or maybe your kids are involved in too many activities. Running around seven times a week to different soccer practices and piano recitals can quickly lead to overwhelm.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, try to take some time to think through those BIG priorities in your life. What is it that you should be focusing on in this season of life you are in?  If you need a little help thinking through and prioritizing those big things in your life, then read this: Creating a Personal Priorities List for Your Life & Homemaking. 2) Not Doing Enough Okay, I know this one sounds counter-intuitive. Sometimes, we are not weary from doing too much in general, but rather, not doing enough of the right things! Are you spending too much time on the computer, watching tv, running too many errands, etc? And not enough time focusing on your kids, laughing with your husband, or taking care of your home? Do you get distracted and frazzled in your home so much so that you get to 5pm each day and have no idea what's for dinner, always run out of any sort of clean clothing, or miss important appointments? Theses all might be signs that you are not doing enough of the right things and are pulled in too many directions. This can lead any mom to becoming weary! Once you pair down and figure out what's really important in life, it's so much easier to focus on those things that we truly need to during our day. And that's what leads to going from simply thriving in our home to ac...

Motherhood is such an incredible blessing but there are days when it's really tough. Days when we feel overwhelmed and weary. Days when we desperately need just a little encouragement.  And today, I am delighted to introduce you to two ladies who are going to do just that. Between the two of them they have 16 kids and each one knows a thing or two about being discouraged in their motherhood.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.    Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Feeling weary and overwhelmed is a common issue within motherhood. Honestly, much of the last four years I have felt weary and overwhelmed. This first advice comes from Jennifer, mother of 11 kids and is so encouraging and convicting! In the audio above or the video below, Jennifer wisely shares three reasons why you might be feeling wearing.  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy – My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It’s the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker…and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won’t open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 13 others!  Why You Might Be Weary 1) You are doing too much If you are weary and overwhelmed, maybe your plate is too full. You are trying to do too much and you just don't enjoy doing these anymore because there are just too many things to be done (this is my life all the time)!  Maybe you are involved in too many activities. Too many things that pull you away from your home. Or too many distractions on the computer that are competing for your attention. Or maybe your kids are involved in too many activities. Running around seven times a week to different soccer practices and piano recitals can quickly lead to overwhelm.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, try to take some time to think through those BIG priorities in your life. What is it that you should be focusing on in this season of life you are in?  If you need a little help thinking through and prioritizing those big things in your life, then read this: Creating a Personal Priorities List for Your Life & Homemaking. 2) Not Doing Enough Okay, I know this one sounds counter-intuitive. Sometimes, we are not weary from doing too much in general, but rather, not doing enough of the right things! Are you spending too much time on the computer, watching tv, running too many errands, etc? And not enough time focusing on your kids, laughing with your husband, or taking care of your home? Do you get distracted and frazzled in your home so much so that you get to 5pm each day and have no idea what's for dinner, always run out of any sort of clean clothing, or miss important appointments? Theses all might be signs that you are not doing enough of the right things and are pulled in too many directions. This can lead any mom to becoming weary! Once you pair down and figure out what's really important in life, it's so much easier to focus on those things that we truly need to during our day. And that's what leads to going from simply thriving in our home to ac...

Marriage has been a hop topic around the blog lately. We've been discussing how you can encourage your husband to lead with love and I even brought Jason on the podcast to share his advice on leading your family from an easy going husband.  This week I am so excited to brining on the expertise and wisdom from two fabulous ladies: Jolene Engle from JoleneEngle.com and Lisa Jacobson from Club 31 Women. They each have their own approaches to sharing about marriage but they both have the Bible as their basis and their own way of encouraging wives.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. The Foundations of a Good Marriage The last few weeks we've been discussing a lot about respect within in marriage and today we are going to talk about how that can lead to a deeper friendship in marriage. Lisa is going to share some great encouragement for developing that deep friendship and Jolene is going to get practical (and real) on what to do when you don't respect your husband.  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy – My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It’s the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker…and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won’t open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 13 others!  When Marriage is Rough I know that sometimes it's hard to talk about marriage because from the outside, it can seem like everyone else has perfect and deep marriages. Maybe you are struggling today and don't know where to turn. Maybe you are angry and upset and don't want to respect your husband.  I want to encourage you to scroll back up and listen to Jolene in the video or audio podcast. She's been there. She knows that struggle in marriage and she is going to give you some Biblical advice on how you can move forward. The following clip is a sneak peek into Jolene's full course within My Homemaking Mentor, our online training academy for Christian women. I really appreciate her open and honest look at marriage while always pointing us back to Christ and God's Word!  Enrollment for the Academy closes down April 3rd and won't open up again until the Fall! So now's your time to enroll if you have any interest (plus the price will be going up in the Fall when enrollment opens again). We have some really fun and exciting things planned for the Academy this year so nows the time to jump in! (PLUS you get lifetime access to all future courses to watch when and where you want - forever!) Find Out More & Enroll Today Learning to Respect As wives, we know that we have a lot of needs. We want to be loved, we want to be cherished, we want to feel close and connected to our husbands, and often we want some form of romance or another. But our husbands have needs as well. And one of those biggest needs is that they want to feel like we are respecting them. In Jolene's clip from the video or audio, she shares what can happen when we don't feel like respecting our husbands. 

Marriage has been a hop topic around the blog lately. We've been discussing how you can encourage your husband to lead with love and I even brought Jason on the podcast to share his advice on leading your family from an easy going husband.  This week I am so excited to brining on the expertise and wisdom from two fabulous ladies: Jolene Engle from JoleneEngle.com and Lisa Jacobson from Club 31 Women. They each have their own approaches to sharing about marriage but they both have the Bible as their basis and their own way of encouraging wives.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. The Foundations of a Good Marriage The last few weeks we've been discussing a lot about respect within in marriage and today we are going to talk about how that can lead to a deeper friendship in marriage. Lisa is going to share some great encouragement for developing that deep friendship and Jolene is going to get practical (and real) on what to do when you don't respect your husband.  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy – My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It’s the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker…and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won’t open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 13 others!  When Marriage is Rough I know that sometimes it's hard to talk about marriage because from the outside, it can seem like everyone else has perfect and deep marriages. Maybe you are struggling today and don't know where to turn. Maybe you are angry and upset and don't want to respect your husband.  I want to encourage you to scroll back up and listen to Jolene in the video or audio podcast. She's been there. She knows that struggle in marriage and she is going to give you some Biblical advice on how you can move forward. The following clip is a sneak peek into Jolene's full course within My Homemaking Mentor, our online training academy for Christian women. I really appreciate her open and honest look at marriage while always pointing us back to Christ and God's Word!  Enrollment for the Academy closes down April 3rd and won't open up again until the Fall! So now's your time to enroll if you have any interest (plus the price will be going up in the Fall when enrollment opens again). We have some really fun and exciting things planned for the Academy this year so nows the time to jump in! (PLUS you get lifetime access to all future courses to watch when and where you want - forever!) Find Out More & Enroll Today Learning to Respect As wives, we know that we have a lot of needs. We want to be loved, we want to be cherished, we want to feel close and connected to our husbands, and often we want some form of romance or another. But our husbands have needs as well. And one of those biggest needs is that they want to feel like we are respecting them. In Jolene's clip from the video or audio, she shares what can happen when we don't feel like respecting our husbands. 

I have a passion for homemaking and love encouraging women in their roles as homemakers. Earlier in the week, I shared a post and podcast episode on what it mean to be a modern homemaker.  Once you understand the theory behind your homemaking and how it affects our lives on a day to day basis through the Gospel, then things really start falling into place in your home. We have to first understand the spiritual side to our homemaking in order to really start thriving.  So that's where it starts, but at the end of the day, the practical aspects of running our home are still really important. But it can be hard to know where to begin or where to turn in better managing your home.  And that's what we are talking about today.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. There are so many moving pieces of running a home. So many things (and people) to juggle. We have to figure out good routines, how to manage the growing laundry piles, how to stay on top of the never ending dishes, how to meal plan and stick to a budget, the best cleaners to use, fitting in time with the Lord...and knowing how to do this all for God's Glory!  It can be tough to know where to even start. Or who to turn to for advice.  Today, I want to make your life just a little bit easier by giving you some places to begin! I've got advice and wisdom from Leigh Ann, Hilary, and Marci (as well as myself) in better homemaking routines and getting things back under control.  Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy - My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It's the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker...and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won't open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 10 others!  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Biblical Foundations in our Homemaking Running a Gospel-Centered home means purposefully and intentionally creating the goals, activities, and atmosphere within your home to be firmly centered on the Gospel. But this doesn't simply mean you are running a "Christian" home, because in and of itself, that's not very descriptive.  A Gospel-Centered home means intentionally focusing on the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives. From parenting our children, to our relationship with our husbands, to the cooking and the cleaning, how we spend our time, and the priorities we choose to focus on throughout the week.  The Gospel should impact and inform all of that. But if we are honest with ourselves, how often does the Gospel actually impact these small details of our day?  RELATED: Hf #12: What does it really mean to manage a Gospel-Centered home? The Purpose in Our Routines Building routines into our day doesn't have to be boring! In fact, establishing good routines can be one of the most helpful things you can do in trying to find more joy in your day to day.  Routines can be one of the most mis-understood parts of living intentionally. Routines are not stiff schedules. They are not even necessarily done at the same...

I have a passion for homemaking and love encouraging women in their roles as homemakers. Earlier in the week, I shared a post and podcast episode on what it mean to be a modern homemaker.  Once you understand the theory behind your homemaking and how it affects our lives on a day to day basis through the Gospel, then things really start falling into place in your home. We have to first understand the spiritual side to our homemaking in order to really start thriving.  So that's where it starts, but at the end of the day, the practical aspects of running our home are still really important. But it can be hard to know where to begin or where to turn in better managing your home.  And that's what we are talking about today.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. There are so many moving pieces of running a home. So many things (and people) to juggle. We have to figure out good routines, how to manage the growing laundry piles, how to stay on top of the never ending dishes, how to meal plan and stick to a budget, the best cleaners to use, fitting in time with the Lord...and knowing how to do this all for God's Glory!  It can be tough to know where to even start. Or who to turn to for advice.  Today, I want to make your life just a little bit easier by giving you some places to begin! I've got advice and wisdom from Leigh Ann, Hilary, and Marci (as well as myself) in better homemaking routines and getting things back under control.  Please note: The following video clips are all pulled from different courses within our comprehensive online training academy - My Homemaking Mentor. The academy contains 15 FULL courses taught by 12 amazing mentors on various aspects of homemaking. It's the only tool you will ever need in learning how to be a more efficient and effective homemaker...and you get lifetime access to all future updates and courses. But enrollment for the Spring shuts down April 3rd and won't open up again until the Fall of 2017 (and the price will be going up then). So if you are interested in the academy, come on over and jump in today to access the full verses of each of these courses and 10 others!  Watch the video!  You can scroll up and listen to this podcast episode on the go. Or watch the video clips below. This is a fun option because you get to see a peek inside the academy and the mentors homes! Watch here and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos. Biblical Foundations in our Homemaking Running a Gospel-Centered home means purposefully and intentionally creating the goals, activities, and atmosphere within your home to be firmly centered on the Gospel. But this doesn't simply mean you are running a "Christian" home, because in and of itself, that's not very descriptive.  A Gospel-Centered home means intentionally focusing on the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives. From parenting our children, to our relationship with our husbands, to the cooking and the cleaning, how we spend our time, and the priorities we choose to focus on throughout the week.  The Gospel should impact and inform all of that. But if we are honest with ourselves, how often does the Gospel actually impact these small details of our day?  RELATED: Hf #12: What does it really mean to manage a Gospel-Centered home? The Purpose in Our Routines Building routines into our day doesn't have to be boring! In fact, establishing good routines can be one of the most helpful things you can do in trying to find more joy in your day to day.  Routines can be one of the most mis-understood parts of living intentionally. Routines are not stiff schedules. They are not even necessarily done at the same...

Guys! My podcast is back after a very long, unscheduled break. Every week Jason and I had it in mind that we would sit down and do the next episode...and things have just been nuts. My Homemaking Mentor officially launches in one month and every spare second has been spent developing this amazing brand new online training academy. It will be well worth it, but it also meant we had to divert a little of our attention away from the podcast. But I know from all the emails and comments, that you guys have been missing the podcast! So we got organized this week and have a podcast episode ready for you! Lord Willing, we will be back to our weekly schedule. In today's episode I am going to be answering a question from Ashlee, who asks about routines and schedules. She wants to know how to handle it when routines and schedules vary from day to day, how much planning is involved, and what should become second nature. Ready for episode #42? Let's jump in! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In This Episode, You Will Learn: My typical schedule (including how it varies every single day) How to handle unexpected things that come up The importance of planning The importance of spontaneity within our routines and schedules Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode Sign up for updates when our academy opens again My FREE eCourse: Finding Joy in Your Home - Essential Habits for Christian Homemakers Leave me a voicemail of a question I can answer here on the podcast Book recommendation: 52 Things Husbands Need From Their Wives by Jay Payleitner Leave an honest rating and review on iTunes :) Book of the Week: 52 Things Husbands Need From Their Wives by Jay Payleitner This has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I am just finding that this book is on my mind. The book has 52 short chapters on little (and big) things you can do for your husband, or to understand him better, or to learn how to love him better. I've been reading a chapter here or there as I have time and I've really been enjoying it. I love that each chapter is a small bite sized idea that I can think about as I go about my day. I've really been enjoying it. So if you are looking for a new book to read for your marriage, I encourage you to pick it up. They also have a book for husbands called 52 Things Wives Need From Their Husbands. So if your husband is up for it, you can order both books and each read one! Jason ordered that one, but he hasn't had time yet to start it. I think he will be starting it soon. Thanks for Listening!

Guys! My podcast is back after a very long, unscheduled break. Every week Jason and I had it in mind that we would sit down and do the next episode...and things have just been nuts. My Homemaking Mentor officially launches in one month and every spare second has been spent developing this amazing brand new online training academy. It will be well worth it, but it also meant we had to divert a little of our attention away from the podcast. But I know from all the emails and comments, that you guys have been missing the podcast! So we got organized this week and have a podcast episode ready for you! Lord Willing, we will be back to our weekly schedule. In today's episode I am going to be answering a question from Ashlee, who asks about routines and schedules. She wants to know how to handle it when routines and schedules vary from day to day, how much planning is involved, and what should become second nature. Ready for episode #42? Let's jump in! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In This Episode, You Will Learn: My typical schedule (including how it varies every single day) How to handle unexpected things that come up The importance of planning The importance of spontaneity within our routines and schedules Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode Sign up for updates when our academy opens again My FREE eCourse: Finding Joy in Your Home - Essential Habits for Christian Homemakers Leave me a voicemail of a question I can answer here on the podcast Book recommendation: 52 Things Husbands Need From Their Wives by Jay Payleitner Leave an honest rating and review on iTunes :) Book of the Week: 52 Things Husbands Need From Their Wives by Jay Payleitner This has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I am just finding that this book is on my mind. The book has 52 short chapters on little (and big) things you can do for your husband, or to understand him better, or to learn how to love him better. I've been reading a chapter here or there as I have time and I've really been enjoying it. I love that each chapter is a small bite sized idea that I can think about as I go about my day. I've really been enjoying it. So if you are looking for a new book to read for your marriage, I encourage you to pick it up. They also have a book for husbands called 52 Things Wives Need From Their Husbands. So if your husband is up for it, you can order both books and each read one! Jason ordered that one, but he hasn't had time yet to start it. I think he will be starting it soon. Thanks for Listening!

As women, most of us are very terrible at investing in ourselves. But the thing is, the key to avoiding burn-out, is to make sure we are taking care of ourselves. In today's episode, we are going to be talking about some ways we can better invest in ourself (without being SELFISH) and how this goes a really long way to avoiding burn-out! This is a shorter episode where we are just chatting about the subject and throwing out some fun ideas and suggestions. Let's jump in: Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Some common ways that we as women face burn-out and overwhelm Why it's so important to take care of ourselves How it's NOT selfish to take care of ourselves And some fun ways we can begin investing in ourselves in just an hour a week Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Check out our brand new online training academy: My Homemaking Mentor! Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine The new supplement I've been trying: Plexus My Homemaking Mentor - Online Training Academy Come on over and learn about our brand new Online Training Academy!! We are taking pre-orders this MONTH ONLY and then you won't be able to enroll again until this Summer. And if you pre-order, you will get over 50% OFF the what we are going to sell it. Find out all the details and figure out how you can pre-order today! Thanks for Listening!

As women, most of us are very terrible at investing in ourselves. But the thing is, the key to avoiding burn-out, is to make sure we are taking care of ourselves. In today's episode, we are going to be talking about some ways we can better invest in ourself (without being SELFISH) and how this goes a really long way to avoiding burn-out! This is a shorter episode where we are just chatting about the subject and throwing out some fun ideas and suggestions. Let's jump in: Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Some common ways that we as women face burn-out and overwhelm Why it's so important to take care of ourselves How it's NOT selfish to take care of ourselves And some fun ways we can begin investing in ourselves in just an hour a week Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Check out our brand new online training academy: My Homemaking Mentor! Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine The new supplement I've been trying: Plexus My Homemaking Mentor - Online Training Academy Come on over and learn about our brand new Online Training Academy!! We are taking pre-orders this MONTH ONLY and then you won't be able to enroll again until this Summer. And if you pre-order, you will get over 50% OFF the what we are going to sell it. Find out all the details and figure out how you can pre-order today! Thanks for Listening!