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 profitted 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.
Inspirational Gift
I would like to introduce you to our next Ms. Biz, Elaine Stephen of Inspirational Gift Gallery.
Q: Tell me a little about your business (or businesses).
Elaine: I sell inspirational gift products that I truly believe express God’s word, Christ’s sacrifice and inspire us with messages of love, comfort and joy.
Q: What is your best selling products?
Elaine: Inspirational Jewelry.
Q: How did you come up with the name?
Elaine: I looked at keyword phrases that applied to the goal behind selling my gifts and how tough the competion would be for being listed at the top of the search engines.
Q: When and why did you start the business?
Elaine: I am a Christian woman who for many years dreamed of having a baby and starting my own business. Unfortunately, I never conceived and a brick and mortar retail store required more upfront investment than I had. Even if I did have a baby and a business, I wondered how I could give both a child and a business the attention they both needed at the same time? Finally, it was time to stop dreaming and wondering and start investigating. My mother always said, “God helps those who help themselves.”
My husband and I decided to adopt a child and I decided to start an online retail business. An online business offered low start up costs and the ability to work from home. As my husband and I created a profile for our adoption, I created a new business.
Through prayer to God and Jesus Christ for guidance and patience, my dreams came true. In November of 2002, I held my adopted son in my arms for the first time and my first web site was already profitable! My current web site, the Inspirational Gift Gallery, was published in 2005.
Q: What was the hardest part for you?
Elaine: Finding drop shippers of unique inspirational gifts and keeping my product offering up to date. I advertise on my web site for product submissions but must find the time to search online for and contact drop shippers of new and unique products as well. With almost 500 products offered from many different suppliers, I must set time aside to keep checking for temporariy out-of-stock, discontinued and new products as well as product price changes.
Q: What motivates you to keep going?
Elaine: Faith in the Lord that I am following the right path in my business and personal life to succeed at both and fullfill my dream. Hope for continued and greater success of my business. I pray for wisdom in the decisions I make for my business and how it compliments my personal life. Finally next to God and family my business has become my passion that strives to spread the words of our Lord and the love comfort and joy that belief in Him bestows upon us.
Q: Any advice for other women wanting to start their own business or ones who have just begun?
Elaine: The main ingredients are research, hard work, trial and error and don’t give up! I truly believe that God wants us to succeed. He simply asks us to plant the seeds of our business, harvest the grain that is available to our business, prepare the flour for our business, mix the dough in our business and bake the foundation of our business before we get to savor the bread of our business, which is our success!
Q: Tell me about you - hobbies, favorite things, etc.
Elaine: Taking pictures of my son, campfires at night in the summer, candle night at home in the winter, sewing and crafts projects. Some day I am going to find the time to make scrapbooks for each year of my son’s life, LOL!
Q: Do you have a discount you would like to offer the readers?
Elaine: I would love to offer a 10% coupon code to anyone who reads this article, visits my Inspirational Gift Gallery web site and chooses to place an order and spread a little Christian love, comfort and joy!
Enter the coupon code: IGGBLOG at check out.
Thank you, Elaine, for taking the time to answer our questions!
