Archive for April, 2010
Friday Five - Mother’s Day
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Following on from last week, here are another 5 suggestions for Mother’s Day gifts. Remember, Mother’s Day is just over a week away!
- EP Designs - Elena has some amazing products on offer, from recreated treasures to hand made table cloths and home wares. It looks like her online store is empty right now, but if you spot something on the website you like the look of, contact her to see what she has in stock.
- Suz’s Space - Does Mum love to read? Then check out Suz’s Space for their range of second hand books. You are sure to find something that Mum will enjoy.
- WillowBlu - If Mum loves handbags, the WillowBlu range of celebrity inspired leather handbags are sure to bring a smile to Mum’s face.
- Pamper Hamper Gifts - Pamper Mum with one of the amazing gifts from the Pamper Hamper Gifts range. There is a variety of hampers as well as prices. You are sure to find a gift Mum will enjoy.
- Aussie Cosmetic Connections - Treat Mum to some gorgeous skincare and make up from Aussie Cosmetic Connections. Well known brands and good quality without the huge price tag.
I hope these have given you some more ideas for Mother’s Day.
If you are still stuck, these older posts may help, some are from Christmas, but the ideas are still good:
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Are you a WAHM?
I was on Facebook the other day, as I tend to do, following the groups and fanpages my friends like or have recently joined. Once I go to a page, I check out their URL, if they have included one.
On one site, a blog that has reviews and other information about sales and competitions, there is a statement saying the owner is not a WAHM as she doesn’t get paid for her services.
This got me thinking, what is a WAHM, especially in the context of running a website or blog?
The blog I saw certainly looks like a business, or has the potential to be a business, especially if the owner started charging for ads on the site as well as for the reviews she does and the sales she promotes. Although at the moment, she doesn’t charge for her services.
Many WAHMs I know don’t earn enough to get paid a salary for what they do - does that make them any less of a WAHM? Especially if they are building things up so they can earn a salary eventually.
Also, to be a WAHM, do you need to join an existing company? Certainly not.
So, what makes a WAHM?
I don’t have a definition myself, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
This also brings me to one of my favourite resources right now, the WAHM Manifesto from Melinda at SuperWAHM. If you are a WAHM, or considering it, this is a must read document.
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In my travels, I came across a fantastic blog post - “7 Cross Promotion Ideas to Boost Traffic and Sales“. There are some great ideas in this post to boost the traffic and sales from your site, more specifically your blog.
One of the suggestions is to join a “Comment Club”. There are many programs that exist, one that I’m a member of is Blog Whammy. This is a great way to increase comments, links and get inspiration for your blog posts. As you are told each week which blog is being “Whammy’d”, you don’t need to remember where you are up to.
Another way to cross promote is with your Facebook Fanpages. You can recommend other fanpages in exchange for them recommending you to their fans. This is easy to do and can help you get more fans, it is then up to you to turn them in to customers.
Running a competition is another great way to cross promote. You can swap prizes, or run a joint competition that runs through both your databases.
There are many ways you can cross promote with businesses that share your target market. If you have done something brilliant, or has brought great results, please add a comment and let us know what you have done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyFriday Five - Mother’s Day Gifts
Posted by: | CommentsMother’s Day is coming up in a few weeks, and mother’s everywhere are bracing themselves for cold, burned toast and too-sweet coffee in bed.
To make up for a less than ideal breakfast in bed, I thought I’d start sharing some great places where you can buy Mother’s Day Gifts.
- Annette Piper Jewellery - This is a site I drool over. In her blog posts, she includes photos of her jewellery. All items are hand crafted and you are sure to find something you like.
- Recipe Blocks - Save your Mum time and money with this amazing cooking system from Mums on a Mission. Their yummy recipes will have you (and/or your Mum) cooking delicious meals in a fraction of the time.
- Leaf Journals - For something a bit different, the story starters from Leaf Journals make a unique gift for Mum (or for yourself). There are a range of topics from Christmas to Girls Only and they help to create fun conversation around the dinner table.
- Herbology at Home - If you or Mum is interested in herbs, then the new book from Herbology would make a perfect gift. It has tips and recipes for creating herbal remedies at home.
- Your Cheeky Monkey - It may seem odd that I’m recommending a baby shop for a Mother’s Day gift, but check out their recycled jeans bags. I have one and so does my sister. They are a great size & fit a lot in it, especially if you find yourself carrying around stuff for the kids.
There are a few ideas for Mother’s Day gifts. I’ll share some more next week.
If you have any suggestions, please add them as a comment so we can all get some ideas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyDoing “Mum Stuff”
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As a business mum, there is a certain amount of “Mum Stuff” I need to do in a day. This could include helping out at school, doing some baking, housework, washing, and tidying, not to mention being “Mums Taxi” taking the kids to extra curricular activities and friends places after school and on the weekend.
So, what do you do, and how do you get it all done?
I aim to get as much business work done while the kids are at school as possible so much of the “Mum Stuff” is done while the kids are home after school or on the weekends. Occasionally there are days like today when I’m not feeling particularly motivated, I’ll do some of the “Mum” tasks.
So far today I have done some baking and changed the sheets on the bed. It’s a beautiful sunny day, so I”m hoping to get all the washing on the line so it will drive before the rains come in the next couple of days.
“Mum Stuff” can also be an effective procrastination tool - if you let it. It can be easy to see the pile of washing or the kids toys around and deal with them before you do any work for your business, especially if you work from home. It can be easier if you work in a shop or office outside home as the constant reminders are not right in front of you.
Schedule in your Mum tasks as you would any other task. You may put aside an hour a day, or whatever works for you, to do these tasks, or even a morning or day a week.
If these tasks are getting too much for you, then outsource. I have a cleaner who comes in on Friday mornings to clean, all we have to do is make sure everything gets tidied. I know of some Mums who outsource their ironing and gardening.
Doing “Mum Stuff” is important, but it can be tempting to let it take over so nothing else gets done.
What are some of your tips to help you get all the Mum Stuff done as well as your business tasks?
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Yet another question!
Having a Facebook fanpage is great promotion for your business, however it can sometimes be hard to know how much to post there.
As you may have seen in previous posts about Facebook on this blog, fans don’t like too many posts in a day. There’s also a danger of not posting enough - for example, posting once, then not coming back for weeks, or even months.
I don’t know what the answer is to this question, so I would like to hear from you - how often do you post updates to your Facebook fanpage? As a fan, how many updates are you happy to see before they start to annoy you?
Please share your thoughts by adding a comment and joining in the discussion.
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Posted by: | CommentsIf you want to establish yourself as an expert, then article marketing is something to look in to doing. If you already write articles, then fantastic.
Article Marketing is where you write an article and submit it to magazines, websites, blogs, newspapers and so on for them to reprint. They will be on a topic of interest and have a bio or resource box at the end.
You may write exclusive articles for a publication, or produce a series of free reprint articles that anyone can publish.
In my blog travels, I came across an interesting post by Brenda Thomson called “Four Key Reasons Why Your Articles May Not Be Working For You“. If you are considering article marketing as part of your marketing mix, this blog post is well worth a read.
Once you have written articles, you can submit them to The RepOZitory, the Aussie Article Bank for free reprint. By putting your articles here, you are making them available for anyone to reproduce them on their website or blog, along with your resource box, of course.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyFriday Five - What to do after you have got publicity
Posted by: | CommentsFree publicity in the media can be great for your business, and can be hard to get. It can be easy to get excited over a mention in media, whether TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, or blogs, and then get on with things.
This week, I thought I’d share 5 things to do once you’ve received some publicity. This may help you get some more!
- Say thank you - this is a tip I picked up at the first Business Mums Network conference. When you get publicity for your business, whether or not you get sales from it, send a card to the journalist to say thank you. If you have been mentioned on a blog or website and you have the contact details for the site owner, it’s a nice thing to say thank you to them too.
- Let people know - it’s exciting to get some free media, so let people know. You may want to post on your blog (for an example, look at the Your Cheeky Monkey blog), or list it on a media page, or even include the mention in your email newsletter.
- Keep a copy - create a scrapbook for yourself with news clippings. If you can, print copies of blog posts and articles in online magazines. Collect DVDs or videos of any TV appearances. These can come in handy if you are entering your business in competitions or applying for a trademark.
- Celebrate - depending on the coverage, celebrate, especially if it is unexpected and/or brings you a lot of new customers. A celebration could be as simple as enjoying a coffee with a friend, or something more elaborate. Remember to celebrate your success.
- Follow Up - is there any follow up needed for the story, or have you got something else you can add or another angle to offer? Could a similar story fit another media outlet? Not all stories will require follow up, however this is something to keep in mind. The follow up with the journalist could simply be sending a thank you card (see point 1).
These tips aim to help you make the most out of any media coverage you may get in your business. Media coverage can be great to grow your business, depending on what they say about you. If it’s unexpected, it can be a huge boost to your reputation as well as feel good.
Have you done anything after getting publicity for your business? What has it been and did it bring any results?
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I have had a sick 6 year old for most of the year, and the end of last term, he was missing a lot of school. He’s off school again today, so I decided he can do some schoolwork at home so he doesn’t fall too far behind. While the work isn’t the same as he would be doing at school, he is doing some reading, writing and maths work.
At times like these, I love the Internet. I have been able to find some awesome worksheets for him to do. We decided the theme of today is fruit, so I Googled “Fruit activities for Kids”. I found a great site, Fresh For Kids. They have a great range of colouring and activity sheets for kids.
What has this got to do with business, I hear you ask. Well, these sheets are all branded with their business details. I printed the sheets out for Mr 6 to work on and the business details are right there in front of us. I will be keeping these sheets to show his teacher what he has done, spreading the word again about the website.
The website is also saved in my favourites, so I can get some more activities if I need them.
There are also other sites I got some activities from. Some of these required I register before I download the activities. There are others you need to pay to gain access. For a single day, I didn’t pay, but if this was an ongoing thing, then I would.
For your business, you may consider creating some educational resources, especially if you target school age kids. These could include:
- Maths activities - counting games, adding & subtraction, patterns
- Matching games
- Word finds & crosswords
Essentially, these are more than just colouring sheets. If you’re stuck, look at some of the other activities out there and see if they can be adapted for your business. For example, there were quite a few sites that had activities wehre the kids added up images of fruit.
These can be a free download, or require people to sign up to your site to access them, you could even have people pay for them. How you do this really depends on the goal for these resources.
If you have some educational resources on your site, please let me know in case I need some more sheets!
Oh, and these can also be great activities when the kids start to say “I’m Bored” during the school holidays.
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Stand Out from the Crowd
Following on from yesterdays post, I thought I’d share a few more ideas how you can stand out from the crowd.
One thing I don’t have right now is business cards. Yes, I know, I should have some, however I’ve moved around a bit lately and my details changed, and I just haven’t got around to getting some new ones. At networking events I carry around back issues of the Business Mums Magazine with me. It has my contact details in the front (the phone number is out of date, but the email & URL are correct) and give those out instead.
Tania from Green Room Interiors sends out a quarterly update called Notes from the Green Room by mail. It is sent in a bright green envelope and I look forward to receiving it each time. It’s nice to get something in the mail instead of another email in my overflowing inbox.
Bernadette from The Needlework Boutique wraps all her parcels in coloured tissue paper so her customers feel they receive a gift each time they order from her.
Kids in Australia stand out from other parenting directories with their Kids Eat Free card. This is a service that is unique to them. I haven’t heard of another one like it. While parents are looking for where they can go to eat, they can browse the other listings and features on the site.
These are just a few more examples, I hope they give you some inspiration for your business.
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