Archive for January, 2010
Friday Five - Contact Us Page Options
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Too often I visit the site of a business mum to find there is only a contact form! The main reason I visit the site is to see where they are located as, where possible, I prefer supporting local business mums. There are a lot of different reasons for the lack of contact details.
This weeks Friday Five report will look at five different contact methods you may want to put on you site as well as options for phone numbers, fax numbers, postal address and email address.
As always, this report is only $5 through PayPal.
Inspiration - where do you find it
Posted by: | CommentsI’m trying to take advantage of the boys being tired from our Australia Day adventures yesterday and write Friday Five reports for the next few weeks, as well as schedule some blog posts. As part of this process, I started looking around at different sites, Facebook fan pages, and any other places I can find for inspiration for topics for these reports.
Over at Annette Piper’s blog, I came across this post that reminded me of today. Annette shares some of the sites she has come across while clicking through the Internet. As always, she has started her post with a photo of a stunning piece of jewellery.
It also got me thinking - where do you get inspiration for ideas in your business? Is it from blogs, books, other people, markets, your kids, or something else? I would love to hear what inspires you in your business. Please share what inspires you by adding a comment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyHappy Australia Day
Posted by: | CommentsHappy Australia Day to all my blog readers. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
If you are looking for something to do, check out the Australia Day website.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyMarketing Monday - Lines of people…
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Last weekend, the boys and I went and stood in line at Chadstone Shopping Centre waiting to see a couple of the stars of ABC3 at the ABC Shop. We stood in line, waiting for over an hour & didn’t get in - but that’s not the point of my post.
There were hundreds of parents with primary school aged children waiting patiently in the line to get into the ABC Shop. At one point, the staff from Adairs came around and handed out their catalogues to the parents in the line. It gave us something to read while we were waiting as well as some marketing for the shop (which was one of the shops the line passed).
Further up in the line, the staff from Jasper Junior Toys came and gave all the children a sticker to promote their business. This was another shop the line passed.
I was surprised that more of the shops hadn’t taken up the opportunity to go along the line and promte themselves to the families waiting patiently. I also wished I had brought information about the Business Mums Magazine with me!
When you are preparing to hand information to a line of people who are in your target market, make sure you have permission to do so. I imagine that the businesses in the shopping centre would be fine to hand out information, however businesses from outside may run in to issues. Instead of taking hundred of your information, you may want to take just a few so that when you get chatting to those around you, you can give them a postcard or sample.
If there is an event you are involved with, such as an expo where people will be in line before the doors open, ask the organisers if it’s OK for you to go out to the line to give them a flyer or sample.
This is also a fantastic strategic alliance opportunity - you could join forces with a few other businesses to create a brochure for people to read to keep them occupied while they are waiting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyFanpage Fun - F.B.G.S
Posted by: | CommentsI discovered a new widget on Facebook today while writing a Friday Five report. So, just for fun, I thought I’d blog about some of the fan pages I’ve joined & add a fan button so you can follow them too.
The first one is a relatively new page called F.B.G.S, which stands for Facebook Garage Sale. Many WAHMs use their fan pages to have sales for their fans, this page brings all those sales together so you can get yourself a bargain. There have been quite a few garage sales so far, and they look great (pity I don’t need any baby items at the moment). I’m sure this page will take off as more people jump on the Facebook garage sale wagon and more and more products will be offered.
Become a fan by clicking on the badge below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums Daily
Friday Five Reports - Back Next Week
Posted by: | CommentsOver the Christmas/New Year break, I have been doing quite a bit of report writing. This means, the Friday Five reports will be back from next week.
Each report is $5 and is downloadable through PayPal. They are short and give you tips on a variety of different topics.
Some of the reports coming up will give you some tips for your Facebook Fanpage, game ideas for party plan consultants, and more.
Stay tuned until next week when the report will be online, or you can subscribe to get a notification on our email list.
You can also get your hands on our reports from 2009 here.
I look forward to sharing these reports with you in 2010.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyStories behind your business
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone has a story to tell, business mums have many stories they can tell about their business including:
- how they started their business
- stories behind products or services
- day to day happenings of running a business with kids around
- and many, many more
On my surfing around different websites and blogs, I have found myself reading stories about business mums. For most sites, I read the About Us page first, then check out their blog. A few posts recently have caught my eye.
On the Recipe Blocks blog, Clare and Kerrie shared photographs of when their books arrived from the printer. You can see their post here. It was great to see the boxes all piled up, and the kids “helping” unpack the truck, or was that making sure the little ones stayed out of the way?
Monique over at Your Cheeky Monkey recently shared the story behind one of her great products, her Heirloom Baby Wraps. The most fascinating thing in this story was her first wrap was created for her children out of a wrap her mum had made for her!
Katerina from Twinkle Lily has also started sharing her story on her blog. Be sure to check out the photos of all the fabric she has recently had delivered. She reports she has started pre washing the wool and her house smells like a sheep farm!
Sharing the story behind your business helps your customers connect with you, especially if you are a purely online business, and gives them an emotional connection to your business. It also gives you great topics to blog about and can inspire others to either buy your products, start a business, or both.
If you are looking for a great story, check out Lara Solomon’s book, Brand New Day. Lara shares the story of the first few years of Mocks. This book is an easy read and can give you some great business tips.
Facebook Tips - Add your photo
Posted by: | CommentsOne tip that is important here is to add your photo to your Facebook profile, especially if you are connecting with business contacts there too. A photo helps you connect with others and helps them to recognise you.
Including your business logo is great for fan pages, however for your profile it is much better to have a photograph.
The sort of photograph you use really depends on the sort of image you want to project. If you are keeping your business contacts to your fan page and just having personal contacts on your profile, the photo doesn’t matter too much. However if you have business contacts as friends in your profile, then it is a good idea to include a photo that is a bit more professional.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyMarketing Monday - Automate your marketing
Posted by: | CommentsAt our coaching session last Monday, we were discussing ways we can automate our marketing. This brought up some interesting challenges. Automating your marketing efforts can mean your business gets promoted while you are out and about doing other things.
Some ideas you may want to consider are:
- scheduling blog posts in advance
- linking your blog to Facebook using Networked Blogs and setting it to automatically update
- link Twitter and Facebook so both update automatically
- scheduling newsletters in advance so they send when you want them to
- using software such as Birthday Alarm to send birthday eCards to your customers
- using programs such as Send Out Cards to send birthday cards and promotional postcards
These are just a few ideas. I’m sure there are many more ideas. If you have some, please share them.
Facebook Tip - Photos
Posted by: | CommentsI follow a lot of different businesses on Facebook, and thought I’d start some posts on some of the different things people do on their fanpages to promote their businesses. I will include links to any fanpages I talk about, you may want to check them out and become fans of the different businesses.
One thing I’ve found interesting is the way different people use photos to promote their business.
Incy Wincy Bows shows off new bows as well as takes photographs of the range of different coloured ribbons that are on offer. She also has a number of accessories that she photographs with a coin or another common item so we can see the size they are. As their website is coming soon, this is a great way to get some interest in the business and have an established customer base before the website is launched.
Mum’s Night Out shows off photographs of the different events - both snaps and professional photos.
Graphic designer, Alexandra Design, uses the photographs on her fanpage to show off her portfolio.
There are a great many uses for photographs on your fanpage. These are just a few. If you have used your fanpage for displaying photographs in another way, please leave a comment and let me know how you use them. Don’t forget to include a link to your fanpage so we can check them out.
