A few months ago when Ruth Schwenk emailed me and asked if I'd like to be a contributor to her new site, The Better Mom, I hopped over to the site, checked it out and then I got a bit excited. I thought to myself, "Wow. This is a great idea!" So, of course, I had to say yes! Later on when we began drafting our posts I asked her a few questions. Through this initial interaction I learned that Ruth had never had a serious blog before. That is when she began asking me questions. Since then, my good friend, Lisa Boyd and I have taken Ruth under our wing. We are teaching her what we know. Ruth is taking advantage of everything that our new venture, DIY Ministry, has to offer. The thing is, no matter how much we know there is always someone who has more experience and a different perspective. We can learn from each other. We simply need to be willing to do the work. Ruth started out as blog reader and is now an experienced blog owner, ministry leader and successful online entrepreneur.

Now I have to admit I was a bit shocked that she had never done this before. But it is because of Ruth's willingness to be used by God, taught by others and the fantastic team of writers she has put together that this site has been such a great success in just a month and a half! God placed a dream in her heart and it is blooming right before her eyes. You can have that too.

In her own words, here is Ruth's review of our services:

"I have to say I am so thankful for DIY Ministry! I learned from a few others how to get my site going, but after it launched I found myself scrambling to learn all of the details. I was so excited when I learned of DIY Ministry. Amy has literally taken me by the hand, and showed me step by step the in's and out's of running a site. Lisa has been there to teach me how to write my own html (*ahem yeah I can't believe it either :)), and how to change different aspects of my site that I didn't even know existed! I would recommend all site owners, bloggers, business owners, and leaders to take full advantage of the full array of services that DIY offers. God gives us a vision, and we are called to carry it out to the best of our ability. It really brings such relief (and saves A LOT of time!) to use the knowledge of others to help fulfill what God is calling each one of us to do." ~ Ruth Schwenk, Creator, Writer, Editor www.thebettermom.com

DIY's desire is to help bloggers, authors, speakers, ministries, churches, small businesses and organizations learn how to utilize the internet to fulfill their God given purposes. We want you all to be able to share your story, your vision, your creations, and have it reach all over the globe.

Basic help, which is the blog posts we deliver weekly, is free but the best we have to offer is our 24/7 Online Help membership. Through this membership we offer training via pre-recorded videos so you can learn, at your own pace, how to build and maintain your own website or blog; we offer personalized help via our membership forums (ask any question and get an answer) and offer a custom web presence assessment. For full details of this package visit the following page: DIY Ministry

At DIY Ministry we also have Live Workshops Online where you will learn from some of the top gurus in the online mission field. Over the course of the year we will have workshops that provide live instruction on Web/Graphic Design, eBook Creation and Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, and many more. Each workshop will have a question and answer session to ensure that you are confident in the knowledge of what you have learned. For full details about the workshops we offer and their individual prices visit the following page: Live Workshops

Here are some of the topics we will cover. We want to provide you with everything you need to build a platform online and reach your personal and ministry goals.

Wordpress

Wordpress 101
Using Plug Ins
Moving from Blogger to Wordpress
Basic HTML and CSS

Blogging

Getting started
Finding Your Purpose
Design and Layout
Planning and Scheduling
Writing
Networking
Building Traffic
SEO
Monetization

Designing Graphics

Headers / Banners
Buttons
Coordinating Graphics
Backgrounds
Graphic Software

Social Media

Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Linked In

Media Platforms

Online conferences
Podcasts
Online Workshops
Videos
Radio (online)
Television (online)

Publishing

Managing Group Websites/Blogs
Operating eZines
Newsletters
Ebooks
Flickr

We already have hundreds of people taking advantage of our services. Join us for some fun and learning! If you would like to sign up we are willing to offer readers of The Better Mom a discount. The cost for the one year, 24/7 Online Help membership is only $24.95 but you can get $5 off today through September 30th at midnight. Just use the following code: bettermom2011

Help us spread the word... and yes, dads are welcome too!

Blessings, Amy Bayliss