Archive for July, 2009
Friday Five - Kids & Business Meetings part 2
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The ideal for business meetings is to have it somewhere quiet and with no distractions. Unfortunately for many business mums, this is not possible. Following on from last weeks Friday Five report on where to have a business meeting, this week, we will share some tips and tricks for keeping your children busy and happy while you meet.
Note: This report is no longer available. If you wish to purchase a similar report, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyAre you missing out?
Posted by: | CommentsI’m on a lot of mailing lists, and I follow a lot of business mums on Facebook and Twitter, so I find out about a lot of competitions.
Recently I was invited to enter a few, but chose not to. Why? Because the prizes were all for baby products! My kids are 5 and 7, and no one I know well is currently expecting a baby, so if I win, the prizes aren’t easy to regift. These business do have products for older kids and Mums, but had chosen baby products as a prize.
So, wahat’s my point? Well, quite simple, is the prize you choose to give causing you to miss out on entrants and possible newsletter subscribers? (Yes, these competitions had joining their newsletter as a condition of entry.)
When choosing prizes to donate or as prizes for your own site, think about who are your target market. Are you just wanting Mums of babies, business owners, Mums in general, or Mums of older kids? When you’ve worked that out, choose your prizes accordingly.
With the Business Mums Magazine, we give 3 prizes each month - one for business, one for Mum and one for the kids. This way we get all 3 areas of the life of a business mum and people can choose which prize they want to win.
Marketing Monday - Networking online
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For a business mum, attending networking events can be very difficult, and sometimes near impossible. The solution is networking online.
There are so many forums and social networking sites out there, it can be hard to choose which sites to join and having the time to keep up with them.
When choosing an online network (whether a forum or social networking), these are the things I look for:
- Will you connect either with your target market or potential strategic alliances?
- Will you get support from others in your industry?
These two are not mutually exclusive, and it depends what I’m looking for at the time.
I have regular times each day to visit my chosen online networks. Usually first thing in the morning when I have my morning cuppa before doing breakfast and getting ready for school, as well as times during the day, most often during breaks or when I’m waiting for something to finish or load. They are also a good thing to catch up on when I’m on hold!!
As with any form of networking, what you get out is proportional to what you put in. So choose your networks wisely and make the most of them.
Friday Five - Kids & Business Meetings
Posted by: | CommentsFor many business mums, the juggle of kids and meetings can be tricky. With a bit of planning, you can have a productive meeting and have the kids around. This weeks Friday Five report will help you with some ideas of where you can have a meeting. Next weeks report will give you some tips and tricks on having a business meeting with the kids around.
Note: This report is no longer available. If you wish to purchase a similar report, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyBlog tip - Blog Carnival
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know what a blog carnival is? It’s where a blog owner gathers together a number of posts on a theme and publishes them on their blog, or, at least links to them from their blog.
The Tall Poppy has just had a blog carnival on the theme of “Living a Real Life”. This is something Anne does fairly regularly and she always highlights some interesting posts.
Getting involved in a blog carnival can get you some new readers and promotion for your blog as people follow the links and reads your post.
Hosting a blog carnival is a way you can get interesting content for your blog.
I have just organised my first blog carnival. I’m looking for interesting posts about kids and your business - the good, the bad, and the very, very funny. Click here to submit an article.
Article Marketing - when your kids “help”
Posted by: | CommentsIn my travels around the web, I came across this blog post from MadCow, aka Amanda Cox from RealMums.com.au. It’s a fine example of what can happen when your children decide to “help” you with your business.
I also like her method of “rewarding” her 8 year old for his “help”!
I can’t help but wonder what my kids would write as part of my bio box if they were given the chance…
Have your kids helped you with your bio box, or another creative method of helping you? Please share with us. The most creative will win a prize.
Marketing Monday - What do you do?
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the biggest challenges many business mums face is talking about themselves. Too often I hear comments like “Oh, I’m just a work at home mum” or “I have a little business” or similar. Many Mums, myself included, are guilty about talking themselves down, or brushing what they do under the carpet along with the breakfast crumbs.
When someone asks what you do, often they are being polite, however often they are genuinely interested too. So tell them.
Now, I’m not suggesting you talk yourself up and make yourself seem better than you are, especially if you’re not comfortable with this. It’s more about being honest and saying things like “I am a business mum” confidently. Being a business mum is something to be proud of.
Many experts will tell you to hone your 60 second elevator pitch. I don’t have one! When people as what I do, I tell them, but don’t go on. If they are genuinely interested, they will ask more questions. You never know, the next person who asks could be your next strategic alliance, bringing hundreds of new customers to your business, or even your next big sale.
Stop downplaying what you do and be honest. What you do in your business is important, and being a business mum is no easy task - just ask any business mum who has just juggled or is about to be juggling kids on school holidays with their business!!!
Friday Five - Kids Recommendations
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Term 2 and this weeks Friday Five. This term, I will be looking at ways your kids and business can co-exist together.
This weeks Friday Five is about using your kids to help with marketing by making their own recommendations on your products. Friday Five reports are only $5 through PayPal, and you can download your report right away.
Note: This Friday Five report is no longer available. To purchase a similar report, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyMarketing Monday - eNewsletters, what not to do!
Posted by: | CommentsI get a lot of newsletters from different businesses, as well as send newsletters. To be honest, I was thinking of making this a Friday Five report, however figured it was too important, so decided to make it free.
Here are some things you should not do in your email newsletter and why:
- From address - have the from address of your newsletter a newsletter from your domain and NOT a hotmail address. With the number of emails I receive, there is a high chance your newsletter will end up in spam and not get read.
- Free newsletter accounts - if you must use free mailing list software, make sure the first thing people see when they get the newsletter is not an ad for someone else! I have a little alert that pops up with the first line of the email that arrives, and if I see an ad for someone I don’t know, the email is likely to end up deleted or in spam - either way, it doesn’t get read.
- No content - please, make your newsletters interesting with content. This could be anything from a free reprint article to the story behind a product to announcements of new products. If there is no content in your newsletter, people are likely to unsubscribe.
- Whole newsletter an image - this is something that irritates me because more often than not, the text appears blurry. A friend was telling me that her email program is set to block images in emails, so she can’t even read them! Sure, these newsletters look pretty, but they are very hard to read.
- Just adding me - OK, this is not only really annoying, but is also against the Australian Spam laws - I hate it when people just add me to their email lists! And how do I know? Usually they add the email that I send them an email (either they’ve subscribed to my list or I’ve replied to an enquiry) or they’ve got the address off my site. This is not the email I usually use to join email lists.
These are just a few of the things I recommend people don’t do in email newsletters. Email newsletters are a fantastic marketing tool, if they are used right.
If you would like some ideas on newsletter content, check out this Friday Five Report. You can also get free reprint articles from The RepOZitory, the Aussie Article Bank.
I hope these tiips will help you with your newsletter and help you to keep subscribers and readers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums Daily