Nicole MacKenzie of MacKenzie Responsive Parenting Method

Hi Nicole. Tell us about your business. What do you offer? When did you start?

I am a mother of six and have been leading parenting seminars for over 15 years. My passion is developing methods to help parents bring out the brilliance in their children - to maintain curiosity and vitality, plus have fun and satisfaction while raising their children. I developed a system called the MacKenzie Responsive Parenting Method based on my years of research in the field of human potential plus my experiences with raising my own children.

My method is based on the universal principles of teamwork, mutual respect, honest communication, non-judgmental awareness and curiosity. It emphasizes consistent discipline without punishment which children actually love and thrive under.

Another thing I insist upon is that Mom and Dad have fun in the parenting process. I believe it is an essential ingredient in effective parenting.

As a side effect of my method, children develop a strong emotional intelligence (often called EQ or EI). Studies in the last decade have shown that EQ is by far the single strongest predictor of future adult success in all aspects of life – far more important than traditional IQ!

In 2002 I wrote a parenting book describing my method, "Parenting Rule #1: Mom Has Fun!" I also offer a parenting audio CD and video. I've had a website for many years although it never generated any sales until recently. In March, 2005 we gave our website http://www.rulenumberone.com a much needed "face-lift" and gradually ventured into the world of internet marketing...

We started by sending an eblast to a friends list. That worked well, so we created an e-book version of our hard-copy book and built a second mini-site http://www.morefunlessworkparenting.com that was devoted only to promoting and selling the e-book version. Next we created a multi-part e-Class to offer people as a free gift, got an autoresponder to manage the emails (Note: LadyPens recommends the autoresponder at www.moms.aweber.com) , and started building our first email address list. For advertising we dipped our toes into the world of Google pay-per-click with a whopping budget of $1 a day! Everything was hooked up to PayPal to collect the payments and then we set up an auto-delivery system to send out the e-book and free bonuses. This was launched in late June 2005.

I must admit it was quite a thrill to sell that very first e-book. To have a customer order, pay, and take delivery without having to "do" anything is totally addicting! Since then we've expanded pay-per-click advertising, started sending out regular monthly newsletters, enrolled in ClickBank to get affiliates, traded bonuses with joint venture partners, set up reciprical links with sites we love, and submitted articles to several article banks (including LadyPens of course!).

Our internet business is now growing steadily, but that's not really the best part. The most exciting thing is knowing that my parenting method is helping parents all around the world raise responsible cooperative kids and have fun in the process. I have affiliates and link partners in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; I send e-newsletters to Egypt, Sri Lanka, India and Finland just to name a few. Being able to reach so many people in such far-away places was totally inconceivable to me before starting internet marketing. I truly appreciate every single person that is part of my new internet community and am deeply gratified by the opportunity to assist them.

Do you have any recent news, products, a new launch, freebies, etc.

We have a free newsletter plus a free e-Class that helps parents set rules and consequences for their kids. Using MacKenzie Responsive Parenting to establish discipline without punishment quickly reduces stressful parent-child power struggles, whining, and tantrums. Visit http://www.morefunlessworkparenting.com to enroll.

What are your absolute favorite products or resources you can't live without in your business (or have helped you the most)?

A sequential autoresponder (like aweber) for our newsletters and mailings, pay-per-click advertising (like Google and Yahoo) for traffic, an affiliate program (like ClickBank) for helping others sell our ebook, and Skype for talking free (or very cheaply) over the internet to our friends and associates all around the world.

What's your best advice for someone just starting out in online business (getting traffic, article marketing, networking, etc.)?

Create a service for people that has real value and is something you personally are totally passionate about. If you don't love it and would do it regardless of the money, you won't have the energy and comittment to see you through. Don't be discouraged if you're not an overnight internet success story. Take small steps, go at your own pace and just keep steadily building your online business.

Remember that quality content is more important than worrying about making things pretty. People will quickly tire of fluff and hype, but will become your loyal raving fans if you can really assist them in reaching their goals.

And don't be shy about 'tooting your own horn' and getting the word out about what you have to offer. But get started right away - do something!

Check out Nicole's awesome articles at LadyPens.

http://www.ladypens.com/profile/Nicole-Mackenzie/202