Natural Mommy’s

I would like to introduce everyone to our next Ms. Biz.  Christina is a work at home mom and founder of Natural Mommy’s.

Q: Tell me a little about your business (or businesses).  For example, what you sell, services offered, etc)

Christina: The name of my business is Natural Mommy’s, the reason it is spelled Natural Mommy’s versus Natural Mommies is because I plan on making Natural Mommy’s very big with many different aspects. For example my first website is called Natural Mommy’s Pure Baby Living, My next one looks like its going to be Natural Mommy’s Pure Family Living and on and on as I expand. My business in an infancy stage right now and I am working hard to make it everything I want it to be. I sell Herbal & Homeopathic remedies for conception, prenatal, and postnatal, labor and delivery aids and of course remedies for mom, baby and childhood(up to teen years!). I strongly encourage attachment parenting so I also sell baby slings. Living a natural, chemical free lifestyle is very important to me so I am very happy to offer natural skin care for babies, this includes, soap, cradle cap treatment, lotion, room freshener, and diaper rash cream. Coming very soon I will have Natural & Organic crib mattresses.

Q:  What is your best selling product?

Christina:  My best selling products are my herbal & homeopathic supplements.  If I had to pick one it would be the Cradle Cap Salve.

Q:  How did you come up with the name?

Christina:  Selling products is not my ultimate goal, educating parents on natural birthing and natural product options and supplying evidence as to why the natural options are in there benefit to use is what means the most to me! I gave birth to both of my children naturally and painlessly and this has empowered and inspired me beyond words, from this experience came the name: Natural Mommy’s.

Q:  When and why did you start the business?

Christina:  The business started about 6 months ago and the reason I started this was pure inspiration to make a difference in peoples lives and ultimately make a difference in our society.

Q:  What was the hardest part for you?

Christina:  The hardest part for me is starting up with very little money and trying to drive traffic to my site.

Q:  What motivates you to keep going?

Christina:  What motivates me more than anything is the knowing of my life purpose is to make a difference. What keeps me going when I may feel down is releasing my negative feelings and self doubt.

Q:  Do you have any advice for other women wanting to start their own business or ones who have just begun?

Christina:  My advice to women who are thinking of starting their own business is to really check in with themselves and make sure they are coming from their center being, to make sure that every part of them feels “right” about what they are doing. Get clear with your intentions of your business and always reexamine. Letting go of any negative thoughts or self doubt is KEY!

Q:  Tell me about you - hobbies, favorite things, etc.

Christina:  I am in process of becoming a transformational life coach, everything about this is very interesting to me. My hobbies are furthering my education in Holistic care, Homeopathic Care, Life Coaching, Natural Parenting, Natural Lifestyles, Green Living, Feng Shui, you name it, I love it!  I am a WAHM, I have two babies, age one and two, they are thirteen months apart and a hand full.

Q:  Do you have a discount you would like to offer the readers?

Christina:  Right now I am offering readers buy 2 get 1 Free on my Homeopathic Remedies!

Please stop by and visit Christina at Natural Mommy’s.

August Freebies

Welcome to the first edition of Ms. Biz Freebies!  I sent out a request for freebies recently, but I was planning to wait until after the first of September to post it.  However, I received responses about some great freebies that have deadlines in a few days, so I had to go ahead and post it.  You must act fast on most of these great freebies!  All of these freebies are from home based business women!

Infacity is giving one lucky bride $500 of products of her choice!  The winner on this one won’t be announced until December 1, but I had to mention this great offer now.  Each registrant must write an essay describing why they deserve to win, so get started now!  Go to Infacity for more details.

Little Ladybug Designs is having a scavenger hunt for a Free DVD Photo Montage with 30 photos and one song.  Vist Little Ladybug Designs to get the questions for the scavenger hunt and for more details.  Winners will be notified after August 31.

The Glamorous WAHM is having a great giveaway of Arbonne items.  Hurry!  Winners will be announced on August 30.  The Glamorous WAHM is also having a virtual baby shower on September 15, so be sure to look for that.

Eco-Office Gals Blog is giving away a reJAVAnate bag!  Winner will be picked on September 1.

Tot-a-Doodle-Doo is giving away a free educational guide on both the Tot-a-Doodle-Doo site and the Tot-a-Doodle-Doo blog.  Please check out the information about this free educational guide.

Crazy About Scrapbook is giving away free scrapbook items.  You must be registered by the end of the month.  Click here to register for the monthly contest.  You can also get a free gift with purchase.

Saige Nicoles is giving away a pair of “Glam Girl” bling sunglasses.  I think this giveaway is also over at the end of the month.  Check out their site for more details about this giveaway.

Daily Power Boosters - Check out this free ebook!

You can also get a FREE Power Mall!  Earn rebates on your own purchases and commissions on the purchases of others in 1000 stores that you probably already shop in anyway!

I hope you enjoy these freebies!  If you have a freebie that you would like to see included here, please contact me.

TheWritePlace

I would like to introduce all of you to our next Ms. Biz! Please stop by and visit Sam at TheWritePlace.

Q: Tell me a little about your business (or businesses). For example, what you sell, services offered, etc)

Sam: While I am involved with several business activities, my main focus is on Advertising & Marketing. Creating ad campaigns gives me the opportunity to indulge in my first love, writing. Marketing gives me the thrill of seeing my efforts to persuade come to financial fruition. As you can see from my web site, I am involved with several businesses, as I have learned how much diversification means financially. Along the way, I learned how much I enjoy and have profited from Affiliate Marketing. The key is feeling good about something enough to want to promote it because it’s the consistent advertising to large audiences that brings home the bacon.

Q: What is your best selling product?

Sam: I would have to say my best selling product is ad creation but my advertising affiliates and the mailers I offer run very close behind.

Q: How did you come up with the name?

Sam: I honestly don’t recall at this time, but I do know that it came quickly - as if on its own.

Q: When and why did you start the business?

Sam: TheWritePlace opened for business a few years ago. I tend to make friends easily (on and off the Net) and through discussions I began to realize that while so many people wanted help with their ad campaigns the price of hiring someone was prohibitive. Occasionally someone would ask me for a favor: would I write an ad for them? I did. Finally, another friend told me I was going about this all wrong. She said that since I was blessed with the talent to be able to create successful ad campaigns, why was I ‘giving away the freebies’. It hadn’t occurred to me yet that I could possibly develop my own service. Since I hadn’t needed them, I didn’t search copywriters, but now I was curious about what they were charging. I was stunned! No wonder people were unable to afford this kind of help. It was then I decided to help their struggle by offering reasonable assistance. I knew I could do a professional job and deliberately priced well below the going rates. Some thought I was cheating myself; others loved the idea. Either way, it made me marketable starting out. Since then, I’ve still kept my pricing low. There are a lot of talented, ambitious people who have trouble writing ads but most people do not have large budgets, especially these days, so I think of what I try to do for others and what they get out of it as a Win/Win situation.

Q: What was the hardest part for you?

Sam: Initially, believing enough in myself. New beginnings are exciting but they’re a little scary, too. I realized that now I’d have to start advertising ‘myself’. Could I do that? Would anybody pay attention? At the time, I was editor/publisher of a newsletter - but would that guarantee anything? Well, I just threw myself out there and advertised all over. Sometimes I still can’t believe how fortunate I’ve been. My first Testimonial had me over the moon for days!

Q: What motivates you to keep going?

Sam: The sheer love of what I do and, significantly, the people I get the opportunity to meet from all over the globe.

Q:  Do you have any advice for other women wanting to start their own business or ones who have just begun?

Same: Do not let anything discourage you. Do not let other people tell you how ‘crazy’ you are. It’s not always easy, but get yourself to the level of tuning them out. This might surprise some, but people who are independent-minded and ambitious can be very threatening to those who’d never venture outside their own build-in cocoons. Communicate with people who think like you do. I wrote a book a few years ago, “Soul Food For The Net”. It was all about people like us and how we bolster each other. There are also articles. I was very pleased with the response because it gave others the impetus to keep marching to their satisfying beat. This may sound self-serving, but trust me, it comes from the heart. Competitive Activity on the Net is stiff (and that’s putting it nicely). I can’t say it enough: do not send out Bad Ads and stop wasting your time with ads that are not working for you. Your competition can’t wait to pick up every dime you leave on the table. Again, this is not self-promotion but experience. We ALL have to change advertising courses sometimesand that includes me.

Q: Tell me about you - hobbies, favorite things, etc

Sam: Besides working on the Net (which I absolutely love!), my favorite things to do are writing, reading, traveling, cooking, watching old movies (Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Cagney, Constance Bennett, etc., etc.), anything by Rodgers & Hammerstein. To round it out, I also enjoy horror movies (Dracula’s my favorite monster) and dramas like “Gentleman’s Agreement, “Imitation of Life”, “Raisin In The Sun”, “Madame X” and “From The Terrace”. “The Godfather” and “Goodfellows” are way up there, too. I’m also a huge fan of doo-wap music and when my family gets together we love to sing it. I guess I’m pretty eclectic (or, as my friends say, I’m all over the place). I consider myself fairly lucky, too, in that I really enjoy my 9-5 (as Asst. Property Manager for a large residential unit).

Q: Do you have a discount you would like to offer the readers?

Sam: Yes, especially with the hot Holiday Selling Season on our heels! If they mention that they read about me here I will give them a 15% Discount on any writing I do for them, and that includes the packages. All info is on my site. In fact, tell them to mention “Tami sent me!”

So, stop by and vist Sam at TheWritePlace.  The discount combined with her already reasonable pricing is too good a deal to pass up!

Kidz Comfort

Rae Lynn Glispin, owner and founder of Kidz Comfort, is our next Ms. Biz! Stop by and check out her My Doudou bed bumper.

Q: Tell me a little about your business (or businesses).  For example, what you sell, services offered, etc)

Rae Lynn: Kidz Comfort offers unique and colorful bedding and accessories to help kids rest comfortably and safely.  Our bedding items are all made in the USA from high quality 100% cotton fabrics.  Our Comforter sets, Bed Bumpers for Big Kids and Toddler Pillows are available in many stylish colors and themes.  Lullaby CDs and bedtime story books are a great addition to help make a child’s bedtime experience more relaxed.  We also offer all-natural and reusable Kidz Heat & Cool Packs in lots of fun prints for those little bumps and bruises that all kids get.

Q: What is your best selling product?

Rae Lynn: Our best selling product is a toss-up.  We have had such great success with our reusable Kidz Heat & Cool Packs and our Bed Bumpers for Big Kids.  They are both very unique and something every child should have.  And they both make great gifts!

Q: How did you come up with the name?

Rae Lynn: We were trying to capture the real purpose of our site in just a couple short words.  We knew these were the words that made perfect sense as our mission is to provide a comforting bedtime routine for kids.  What goes along with sleeping but the traditional sleeping zzzzzz’s and a nighttime sky and moon.  We added it all into our name so that it was very clear what our site was about.

Q: When and why did you start the business?

Rae Lynn: We have two toddler boys and their bedtime routine was always a “process,” to say the least.  We also had concerns about how active they were during the night, often waking themselves up by banging into the wall that runs alongside their beds.  Along with that, our winters are very very cold, which often made their walls very chilly.  We became concerned that they would get cold during the night if they happened to rest against their walls.  That is when we created the bed bumper to hang on the wall, and be removable for washing.

We launched our business in September of 2007, initially only selling our unique and patented Bed Bumper for Big Kids.  We began to realize that customers prefer a larger variety of products to choose from and that providing coordinating bedding was important to our continued success.

We are dedicated to continue making our products in the USA and with the highest quality materials.

Q: What was the hardest part for you?

Rae Lynn: The hardest part was taking that first step and actually spending money on the businesses start-up costs.  It was a scary thing to commit to.  It is also very tough to convince a spouse that isn’t into shopping…although I have to say my Husband has been supportive since the very beginning, so I am fortunate for that.

Q: What motivates you to keep going?

Rae Lynn: I obviously don’t want to be a failure, but more importantly, I want to show my boys that you can accomplish almost anything if you set your mind to it.  I never want to have regrets and I refuse to give up.  It is an internal drive that women often have to prove what we are capable of.

Q: Any advice for other women wanting to start their own business or ones who have just begun?

Rae Lynn: Research, research, research.  That is one of the most important things to do.  There are so many resources out there to guide women into and through entrepreneurship.  Massachusetts and Rhode Island have www.cweonline.org, but each state has similar organizations that will help propel women into business-ownership.  Check with your state’s SBA or SBDC for advice and direction.  This has saved us thousands of dollars and provided me with so much information, assisting me to be more successful.

Another helpful tip is to find useful networking groups, both on-line and off.  A great group to join is www.mompack.com.  It’s a great place to bounce ideas and questions off of other business owners.

Find a mentor.  Find some one that runs a similar business and ask to meet with them.  It may take a few tries, but you will find some one that is willing to share their lessons with you.

It has been so much work, but at the same time, so fulfilling.  I am so proud to have taken this path in my life.

Q: Tell me about you - hobbies, favorite things, etc.

Rae Lynn: My priority has always been my family.  We have made many sacrifices so that I could have a large impact on how my children are raised.  I now have the best of many worlds, staying home with my boys every Monday and Friday (and of course weekends), working part-time for a non-profit organization, Center for Women & Enterprise (www.cweonline.org), who has helped me get my business started in the first place, and I also am fortunate enough to run my own home-based business.

I absolutely love gardening and have my own small organic vegetable garden to poke around in.  There’s nothing like your own home grown veggies.  I also love flower gardening, black and white photography and just hanging out and playing with my family.  I LOVE eating every kind of food that exists, which is often a curse!

Q: Do you have a discount you would like to offer the readers?

Rae Lynn: Just enter msbiz at checkout as your coupon code and you will receive a 10% discount on all orders.

Thank you, Rae Lynn, for taking the time to answer the questions!

Marketing & Networking

Welcome to the August edition of the Ms. Biz Blog Carnival!  My plans for this edition was for it to be about home office organization; however, I did not receive enough posts related to that topic.  I found that the large majority of the posts were about marketing, so that is the new focus of this edition.  Enjoy!

Kathleen Gage presents many great posts about marketing and networking at Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions.  Some of these include:

I know I need to blog, but where do I find the time and fresh ideas?

Internet Marketing - An often overlooked opportunity

Internet Marketing - What’s stopping your success?

Social Networking: A great resource or simply a waste of time?

Internet Marketing!  It’s driving me crazy!

Again, all of these by Kathleen Gage are posted at Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions, and I thank her for taking the time to submit this information to the blog carnival.  You may want to spend some time browsing around this blog.

Melanie presents What Indiana Jones Teaches Us About PR posted at Rembrandt’s PR and Writing Blog for Startup Success.

Melanie also presents 3 Quick Copy Tips to Boost Website Sales posted at Rembrandt’s PR and Writing Blog for Startup Success.

Richard presents What is The Real Purpose of a Business Blog? posted at No More Compromise.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Biz Women!

I realize that it does not include many links, but please understand that I waded through everything that was submitted to only include relevant, useful information.  This is not even 1/4 of the posts that have been submitted for this carnival but many simply were not relevant to the topic of home business.

Which brings me to a very good question - are blog carnivals worth the effort?  From the standpoint of the blogger who has their post included in a blog carnival issue, I think that blog carnivals can certainly be worth the effort of submitting your post for inclusion.  IF that post is on topic with what the blog carnival is about!  Some blog carnivals are seeking general posts on an area and some are seeking posts about a specific topic.  Please always read the information before you submit your post to any blog carnival.   For people like me who are hosting the blog carnivals and must (or should) take the time to weed out the irrelevant posts, I have high hopes that the blog carnivals can be useful.  Of course, my main reason for doing these is not only to bring traffic to this blog but to also help other business women.  So, is it working?  I’ll get back to you on that.