We did a survey of our students and people who wanted to sign up for courses from SparkplugU. One of the most frequently requested features we received was that we offer our classes in an electronic format so that you can take them on your own schedule. We can’t really blame you – we have busy schedules too. :)

So we have been working furiously on developing electronic courses that can be accessed immediately!

Two of our most popular classes are ready to go! You can now purchase and immediately download:

Introduction to Starting a Blog Network with Wendy Piersall & Easton Ellsworth

Write Press Releases to Grow Your Business with Susan Payton

Next month, the BlogWorldExpo conference is happening on September 19-21, with the 19th being a special Executive & Entrepreneur Conference segment. Last year, I spoke at BlogWorld, and will be again this year. The topic will be on how to sell advertising and sponsorships directly for your blog.

We’re also working hard to get as many people from Sparkplugging & SparkplugU to the conference as possible. Stay tuned – we might need a lot of room over there!

If you register for BlogWorld before August 22, 2008, you can get 25% off of your registration. You can buy an exhibits-only pass for as low as $100, with the 20-21 main conference a reasonable $400. That means that if you register early you get $100 off your ticket. If you are interested in online publishing, then I really can’t recommend this conference more highly!

This year it’s only going to be bigger and better. I will be there along with several of the Sparkplugging *:) Blog Network authors:

Susan Payton from The Marketing Eggspert

Shannon Hutton from Believer in Balance, Momsational & Seasonal Kids Activities

Starla Sireno from Ask the Coach

Please stop us and introduce yourself if you are going to be there!

It has been a long-time goal of mine to find a way to bring this project to fruition. After running eMoms at Home, now Sparkplugging, for over two years, it became increasingly apparent to me that just writing great articles wasn’t enough. People were asking for more guidance, more support, more direction from me and the rest of the Sparkplugging authors.

Yet at the same time, I’ve always had a resistance to those scammy, spammy internet marketing ’schemes’ that seem to promise the world yet are in actually set up to prey on people who don’t fully understand what it takes to run a business on the internet. Of course, I would never do that. And while I have run my site, I’ve probably turned away over $20,000 worth of advertising from those kinds of ‘opportunities’, because I flat out to refuse to take part in their game.

It took a while for us to find a way to both offer quality training and ensure that I met the following criteria:

• We had to create a program that was explicitly clear on what the student would get – there is no guesswork when you register for one of our classes.
• We had to position it so that everyone understood that we are not teaching get-rich-quick schemes. If that’s what you want, then you can throw your money away with the millions of shady programs available online – go to it!
• Quality & usability were incredibly important. My name and my authors’ names are on the line with SparkplugU, and I would never jeopardize your goodwill for a buck.
• Most of all it had to be affordable. I know first-hand the struggles of the startup entrepreneur and solo business owners. You don’t have a ton of cash. We get that.

When I was 25 years old, I was a single mom, living in my parent’s basement. I had no business experience, no business schooling, and yet I decided to start my first business. There were some excellent resources available then – but nothing like there is today, thanks to technology.

SparkplugU means so much to me personally, because this is a resource built specifically to help everyone who was once in my shoes. I know there are many people out there who aren’t fortunate enough to have access to real training and advice from experienced business owners who get online business and Web 2.0.

Since I can’t reach back through time and help myself succeed in my first business, today I get to pay forward everything I’ve learned and my team and I get to pass on everything we know to a new generation of people who want work that fits into their life.

I honestly feel blessed to have this opportunity to work with you – and a huge, tearful and heartfelt thanks goes out right now to all of the Sparkplugging *:) authors and to our loyal, wonderful readers who make my job blissful on a daily basis!