Moms In Business Magazine - July 2011

10

Fascinating Facts About Business

Celeb Mom Trends

To Have a Website or...

Not to Have a Website

$ave

for College F r e e F o o d

WHO Won the 2011 Moms In Business Grant?

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 1

PAGE 2 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

Prepare 2 Make

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Key Strategies to Getting Results and Winning That Big Contract - Elaine Starling, CEO Starling Media Getting Certified as a Woman Owned Business - How to Get It For FREE and How It Can Help You Get New Clients - Ana Recio Harvey, Head of the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership Are Cashflow and Credit Keeping You From Going After Bigger Clients? Get Fast Solutions!

- Scott Letourneau, CEO NV Corporate Planners How To Get Your Product Sold on Sears.com EXCLUSIVE: NAFMIB is partnering with Sears to provide a free program reaching 1 million visitors monthly - Sid Breja, GM of Marketplace – Sears Online

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 3

NOTES

From The Founder

Gina Robison-Billups; NAFMIB Founder, CEO

Life and Summer Vacation

My

oldest daughter just graduated from high school. Of course, I am so proud, but this is just one of the many steps in her life that I have been and will be proud of.

Of course, this time comes with a lot of internal reflections: “Was I a good enough mom?”

“How did it go by so fast?” “What’s next?”

My daughter thinks I am and was a great mom, so that’s all the validation I need on that one. But the question “How did it go by so fast?” should really be rephrased to, “Did I spend the brief time I have with her wisely?” Honestly, I’m not sure I did.

I may have watched too much TV, but I definitely didn’t use my time the way I and even she wanted to use it. I spent too much time on work (which I love my work), and I spent too much time worrying about my house and money and having a dirty living room. For several years, I hate to admit, I did not spend my time doing what I personally thought was important. I spent some of those years doing what other people thought was important. I gave up too much precious time to those tasks.

Sometimes others influence us, and then one day we wake up and ask ourselves, “Why did I buy into what that person was saying?” “Where did “I” go?” “Why didn’t I stay true to my beliefs?” Time is gone, and I lived my life according to what others thought was appropriate. It’s not their fault. They wanted to fulfill their vision of their life and my part in it, but when do we as women start to lose ourselves in other’s ideas of what we are supposed to be as women, as mothers, as people? Moving away from our beliefs creeps upon us without any notice, like a slowgrowing deadly disease that eats away at your soul.

So, I’ve answered, “How did it go by so fast?” I “should” it away by living my precious time as a parent according to someone else’s rules – not all of it of course, but some of it... too much of it.

And now to the question of “What’s next?” Well, my daughter is going to live in Europe for a time before going to college. She is not living according to other’s ideas of what “should” be done. She is paving her own path and following her dreams. More than the A’s and B’s, AP tests and awards, I am most proud of her for that.

I, on the other hand, have a lot to think about. The world is open to possibilities, and the first thing I’m going to do is start treating my entire life like a summer vacation - making beautiful and fun memories, and taking more time with the ones I love.

So, if you don’t hear from me right away, just know that I will get back to you, but right now, I’m “busy” LIVING! Happiness and Success to All!

Gina Robison-Billups Founder/CEO

PAGE 4 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

INSIDE

July

2011

About Our Contributors

4 NOTES

from the Founder/CEO, Gina Robison-Billups

Kate Marshall

Nevada State Treasurer

NOW 6

Moms Minutes

8

Moms Vote Matters

10

Kate Marshall was first elected State Treasurer in 2006 and re-elected to second term in 2010. She originally ran on a platform she called the Marshall Plan, which included seven main points she would emphasize during her tenure.

Important Tips and Briefs Instant Impact Legislative Update

Events

Featured events, conferences and more

FEATURES 12

Save for College Sending a Child to College is one of the…

14 Cover Story: And the WINNER Is…

The basic tenets were simple: Improve and implement programs that will save taxpayer dollars; reduce spending by becoming more efficient; and identify innovative methods for increasing economic development in our state. By the conclusion of her first term, six of these covenants had been met, with the seventh being considered during the 2011 Legislative Session.addition, the reserves for Nevada’s debt service payments increased from the office’s historic practice of keeping six months available to 11 months, providing greater security for the state.

Moms In Business Grant Winner

17

Raymon J. Keating

10 Fascinating Facts About Business How Businesses Function and are Financed

18

To Have a Website or Not To Have a Website?

For small and micro businesses, expensive ecommerce websites could be in question.

Raymond J. Keating serves as Chief Economist with the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), a national nonpartisan, nonprofit small-business advocacy group. He also writes a weekly newspaper column for Newsday on Long Island. In addition, Keating runs his own small business – Keating Reports – which publishes a variety of analyses and newsletters.

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Flexible Schedule is Key to Keeping Working Moms on the Job

Women who return to work after giving birth are more likely to stay…

21 22

New Survey Reveals: When it Comes to Back-to-School Shopping, Moms Are Still Old School

Mr. Keating has authored or co-authored three books — U.S. by the Numbers: What’s Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (June 2000), New York by the Numbers: State and City in Perpetual Crisis (May 1997), and D.C. by the Numbers: A State of Failure (January 1995). He also has contributed essays for four other books, and is currently working on two new books.

Toyota Giving 100 Cars to Non-Profits Moms In Business Grant Winner

On The Cover

14

Now Accepting Article Submissions for the National Association of Moms In Business Magazine.

For guidelines and submission information visit the NAFMIB Writer’s Guidelines

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 5

NOW

Moms Minutes

No Time to Read?

LibriVox.org provides free audiobooks. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Their goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.

• Librivox is a non-commercial, non-profit and ad-free project • Librivox donates its recordings to the public domain • Librivox is powered by volunteers • Librivox maintains a loose and open structure • Librivox welcomes all volunteers from across the globe, in all languages

Quote of the Month: “Oh, the summer night has a smile of light, And she sits on a sapphire throne.” ~ Barry Cornwall

Free Food!

We’re not talking about extreme couponing here. That’s an endurance race! For those that want free food that doesn’t come in a box, and want to give to others in need there are plans cropping up around the country to help.

It all started with a little local organization out of Salem, OR called, “Salem’s Harvest”. The nonprofit dedicates its self to providing fresh produce to food banks from private sources. In their first year Salem Harvest came up with 1700 volunteers who picked 53,000 pounds of fruits and veggies on local farms. They delivered the abundance of freshness to a dozen food programs. Volunteers also got to keep half their harvests.

Neighborhoodfruit.com volunteers from around the country have planted more than 200 fruit trees in 23 city orchards. The website lists 10,000 registered fruit and nut trees nationwide and helps people locate trees closest to them. All fruit picked is FREE.

Celeb Mom Trends According to a new article in Babble.com the latest and hottest celebrity mom trend is to have their own lifestyle website. We know for many of you serious business mom readers, this may seem like a ridiculous thing to cover, but hang in here with me.

You’ll see the biz connection soon.

Gwyneth Paltrow got the ball rolling with her launch of GOOP. June 2010 brought on a whole new batch of celebrity mom lifestyle sites from Tori

PAGE 6 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

Spelling, Heidi Klum, and Bethenny Frankel.

All of the sites feature “channels” outside of the celebrity mom’s regular areas of expertise, although Heidi is the most upfront about this. All the sites seem to want to hear from their fans about what’s important, so this may be your opportunity to get on the ground floor of an upcoming celebrity trend before it explodes.

Moms Minutes

You Like Me! You Really, Really Like Me! According to Search Engine Land, many ecommerce companies have seen huge increases in sales and traffic after implementing Facebook Likes for their websites.

Here are a few examples: uu Levi’s jeans found that referral traffic increased 40X after implementing the Like button uu Giantnerd.com’s revenues increased over 100% after implementing the Like button uu American Eagle implemented Like and found that Facebook visitors spent 57% more money than non Facebook referred visitors. uu Tea Collection has seen 10X daily revenues since implementing Like. uu ShoeDazzle has found that Facebook users are 50% more likely to make repeat purchases every month than average shoppers.

Gets Some LinkedIn gets more Klout as the two social media favorites connect and collaborate!

If you don’t know what Klout is, go back to the Mom’s Minutes in our June 2011 issue of Moms In Business Magazine.

LinkedIn adds great credibility to Klout and as LinkedIn has over 100,000,000 professional members, and there’s a good chance they are not all fully aware of Klout and its social media relevance, Klout is likely to get a lot more members and very soon!

Klout has also recently added the new Klout + feature which enables members to show appreciation for the ‘influence’ of others they’re connected to on Klout.

Hmmm…

Seems Like you better get to liking that Like button. Like soon!

Something you won’t Like: Unlike a blog or informational site, it’s more difficult to get people to “Like” an online store fan page because most stores don’t post interesting content.

A NEW Kid on the Block with More Influence?

The race to create the gold standard of measurement for social media influence continues. The last we heard from Klout was that it was now tracking around

60 million

profiles. But today it would appear PeerIndex is in its rear view mirror with

45 million profiles and counting.

PeerIndex, which identifies experts who use social media like Twitter to expound on their chosen topics, is effectively building an opinion-forming marketing service, which lets marketers, and brands access these highly influential individuals.

While Klout gives us an overall score for an individuals’ influence, PeerIndex goes after the actual subjects people are expert in and ranks them accordingly with a proprietary algorithm. They say that their service helps brands avoid using social media to target the wrong people. This is all part of the new world known as “opinion former” marketing — which appears to be a growing sector. www.PeerIndex.net.

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 7

NOW

Moms Minutes Continued

1 in 5

smart-phone owners use Check-In apps In a new article from the Los Angeles Times, about one in five smart-phone owners use checkin services such as Foursquare, Gowalla or Facebook Places, according to the research firm ComScore.

In a study on the locationbased social networking apps, ComScore found that about 16.7 million mobile subscribers in the U.S. used the check-in services on their phones in March 2011 alone, representing about 17.6% of total smart-phone users.

Most pulled up retail websites and shopping guides on their smart phones and tablet computers.

Facebook Places is the most popular check-in service because Facebook is the most popular social network and people are already using it for other things.

Of those who ComScore found to be using check-in services, 60% were between the ages of 18 and 34. Almost half, 46.4% of check-in users had full-time jobs, which is slightly less than the percentage of total smart-phone users in the U.S. who are also employed full time -- 53.3%.

Survey shows Women’s Health not as Important

Most American women feel more independent today than they did five years ago (64%), reporting the greatest strides in women’s independence were in career advancement (65%), education (55%) and politics (46%). But when it comes to their health, women don’t claim independence -- nearly half of women (47%) believe society values men’s health more than women’s health, according to a new survey of 2,500 Americans.

Almost seven in 10 women (67%) say they put their family’s health needs ahead of their own.

More than one-third of employed women (35%) use most of their sick days for someone else and nearly one-quarter (24%) of all PAGE 8 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

NASA Will Host 150

People

for Tweetup at Launch of Jupiter-Bound Mission NASA will host a two-day launch Tweetup for 150 of its Twitter followers on Aug. 4 - 5 at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Tweetup is expected to culminate in the launch of the Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket.

The launch window opens at 11:39 a.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno’s color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet’s poles.

The Tweetup will provide @NASA Twitter followers with the opportunity to tour the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; speak with scientists and engineers from the Juno and other upcoming missions; and, if all goes as scheduled, view the spacecraft launch. The event also will provide participants the opportunity to meet fellow tweeps and members of NASA’s social media team.

Juno is the second of four space missions launching this year, making 2011 one of the busiest ever in planetary exploration.

Aquarius was launched June 10 to study ocean salinity; Grail will launch Sept. 8 to study the moon’s gravity field; and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover heads to the Red Planet no earlier than Nov. 25.

Tweetup registration opens at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 24, and closes at 3 p.m. on Monday, June 27. NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations. For more information about the Tweetup and registration, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ tweetup. employed women feel like they are at a disadvantage because they are typically the one who uses sick days when a family member gets sick. This is especially true for moms with kids living in the household (40%).

The survey also found that when money is tight, one in four women (26%) have paid for others’ drug prescriptions instead of their own. A majority of women agree that their families rely on them to be in charge of health-related decisions (62%) and over half of all women fear that if they become sick, their family will have difficulty managing everyday activities (56%).

More information on the survey findings is available at Ogilvy Public Relations’ blog, WomenOlogy: The Anatomy of Marketing to Women (http:// WomenOlogy.ogilvypr.com).

MomsVoteMatters.com

NOW

Moms Vote Matters

Moms Vote Matters is a program for moms in business to learn, influence, communicate, and engage in community and national policies that effect their families and their businesses

Powered by Women Impacting Public Policy

1. Small Business Regulatory Reform Amendment Fails in Senate.

During debate on the Economic Development bill, S. 782, the Senate failed to approve an amendment promoted by Senator Snowe (RME). The amendment would have required federal regulators to consider impacts on small businesses to a greater extent than they do today. It would have required the SBA Office of Advocacy to conduct more regulatory review panels with respect to proposed federal regulations. The bill failed largely due to worry over decreased Congressional input. Even though the amendment failed, WIPP hears from its members that government regulations continue to be a burden and will work with Congress to decrease them for small businesses.

2. Senate Small Business Committee to Examine Duplication in SBA Programs.

As the budget tightens, Congressional Committees are examining whether any programs should be reengineered or eliminated to avoid duplication in programs. On Thursday, June 16 at 10 am the Senate Small Business Committee will hold a hearing, similar to one held in the House Small Business Committee last month. At that House Small Business Committee hearing, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that most of the 80 programs that assist entrepreneurs are spread over four major agencies -- SBA, Department of Commerce, USDA and Treasury. Whether or not they are duplicative is not well documented by the government, according to GAO. GAO found that no standard performance metrics exists to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. GAO is planning a more in-depth report that will examine this, as well as possible opportunities for collaboration and consolidation among programs.

3. Next on the List for Healthcare Repeal: Mandated Coverage for Employers with 200+ Employees.

It is no surprise that the House of Representatives is looking into repealing another piece of healthcare reform.

Efforts are currently underway to draft legislation that repeals mandated healthcare coverage by companies with 200+ employees. In the Affordable Care Act, businesses over 200 full-time employees are required to automatically enroll their employees into an employer sponsored benefit plan and the legislation, if introduced, would do away with that requirement. A study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Health Foundation reported that 99% of large firms (200 or more workers) offered health benefits in 2010 so the bill would affect 1% of those firms. It is important to note that these employers will not be able to access insurance through the state exchanges.WIPP’s focus is to ensure that the state healthcare exchanges, required to be in effect by 2014, are adequately structured so that small businesses utilizing the statewide pool will be able to buy affordable insurance. The latest WIPP annual poll shows that small businesses who offered health insurance in 2010 dropped by ten percent.

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 9

NOW

Events

Every FRIDAY at 8AM Moms Making A Million Radio Show

LISTEN LIVE: Moms Making a Million - A Fast-Paced Fun Weekly Radio Show On Saving, Earning & Investing Money 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME - 11:00 AM EASTERN TIME Call-in Number: (646) 378-1417; www.MomsMakingaMillion.com

July 22, 2011 Power Mom NetworkTM Summit - Las Vegas

For members of the NAFMIB PowerMom NetworkTM. Details of program can be found at PowerMomNetwork.com. Official Date TBD (subject to change) Invitation Only. The Power Mom NetworkTM Summit is a private event open only to members of the Power Mom NetworkTM -- a private, exclusive and trusted social and business network of mom entrepreneurs and corporate mom executives to receive support, peer mentorship, friendship, strong relationships, business growth, connections and advocacy. If you are interested in finding out more about the Power Mom NetworkTM and becoming a member, please go to www.PowerMomNetwork.com to view detailed terms and qualifications.

July 29, 2011 - 9:00am PT/12:00(noon) ET Moms In Business Grant 2012 - COACHING Moms In Business Grant is the first-ever crowdfunding business grant in the nation! We launched this innovative program in March 2011, and it was a brilliant success. See more at www.MomsinBusinessGrant.com.

We are doing it again for 2012 and giving one lucky mom a chance to win $15,000 in business growth tools and cash. We are also giving all of our members a head start for 2012 by starting a coaching series in July 2011 for grant applicants to have all training to substantially increase their chances of success the Moms In Business Grant program.

Coaching is every FOUR (4) weeks on Friday (NOT every last or first friday, etc.).

Coming in September

B2BMoms “Meet the Buyers” Summit

Meet the Buyers! Want to know what it takes to get major corporations to do business with you? You can find out directly from them. We have 8 corporate purchasing and supplier diversity directors speaking directly with you about what they need and how your company can get into their supply chain. They will personally answer your questions. This is a golden opportunity to meet and connect with the people making the decisions to help you earn their business. This is fully online summit (attend from the convenience of your own office!) - no travel costs, no hotel costs, and all the benefits of meeting the major decisionmakers! Coming September 7th-9th. Stay tuned for guest speaker announcements and times.

PAGE 10 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

EVENTS

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PowerMom Summit Las Vegas

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Moms In Business Grant 2012 COACHING

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Moms Making a Million Radio Show

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Enjoy the Summer Your Family & Your Life!

Visit http://www.MIBN.org to view updates and the entire NAFMIB Calendar of Events Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 11

$ave

By Kate Marshall Nevada State Treasurer

for College Sending a child to college is one of the most important contributions we can make as a parent. It opens up a world of opportunity for our children.

Yet, when it comes to our day-to-day lives, full of other needs and responsibilities, putting the focus on saving for college can be challenging.

L

ike you, I want to do the best for my children.

Nevada’s 529 plans offer a way to be ready when your child is ready for a college education.

A little goes a long way.

No matter how much, or how little you save, it can make a difference. With Nevada’s 529 plan you can open an account and begin saving with as little as $50 per month. Over time that $50 a month can become real savings. A family that starts saving $50 a month when their child is born can have more than $21,000 put aside by the time their child is ready for college.*

Reduce Reliance on debt.

Even if you can’t save the entire cost of your child’s college education, college savings can reduce the amount of debt PAGE 12 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

your child will have when they leave college. Many families rely on low interest student loans to make college affordable for their children. But even the small amount of interest one pays on such loans can add up over time.

Using low interest loans can easily turn the “cost” of a $100,000 education to over $145,000 over the life of the loans because of the interest that must be paid.** At the same time, saving and investing means you are earning interest on the money you are setting aside. Such savings can reduce the “cost” of that same $100,000 to less than $66,000 and help your child start their life debt-free.** While $100,000 may seem like a lot to pay for a college education, the average tuition, room and board, books, supplies and transportation at a four year private college was

Kate Marshall,

Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall was first elected State Treasurer in 2006 and re-elected to second term in 2010. Even during the economic woes the state, nation, and world faced in 2009, wherein numerous companies went bankrupt or received federal bailout money and many state and local portfolios, including retirement accounts, took a beating, the State Treasurer’s Office made a net investment profit of $46 million on the General Portfolio for Fiscal Year 2009.

During her first year in office, investment earnings on the state’s general portfolio grew by more than $119 million, an increase of almost 50 percent over the previous fiscal year. In addition, the reserves for Nevada’s debt service payments increased from the office’s historic practice of keeping six months available to 11 months, providing greater security for the state.

approximately $33,000 in 2006.*** The bottom line: no amount of savings is too small.

Scholarships may not cover the entire cost of a college education.

Hopefully, your child will receive a scholarship to attend college. But, in truth, scholarships rarely cover the entire cost of a college education. According to the U.S. Census, the average amount of aid received by full time college students in 2005-2006 was just $10,113.† Even full tuition scholarships like the Guinn Millennium Scholarship will leave out expenses such as room and board, books and supplies, transportation and other miscellaneous costs. At a minimum, saving for college can help fund the gap.

Nevada’s 529 plans are an easy, affordable and convenient way to save. All money grows free from federal taxes and you, the account holder retain control of the assets regardless of the age of your child. The money you save under a 529 plan can be used for tuition, required fees, some room and board costs, books, supplies and other qualified expenses.

A college education can help your child reach his or her dreams.

Your child or grandchild may dream of becoming a doctor or a teacher. My youngest daughter, Molly, wants to be a veterinarian. I know what realizing that dream for her is likely to cost. A 529 plan can help your child reach those dreams.

I encourage you to go to www.nevadatreasurer.gov or call my office at 775-684-5600 to learn more about the college savings plans offered by Nevada and let us help you save for your child’s education.

With two young daughters of her own and as someone who benefitted from a college education herself, Kate is committed to providing parents, other caregivers, and friends with greater resources for saving for a college education for their children. In collaboration with Upromise, she initiated the Ugift and Silver State Matching Grant programs, which provide a greater opportunity for family members and friends to contribute to a child’s college savings plan. Further, a pilot program designed to assist Nevada military families was launched in 2011. The Distinguished Valor Matching Grant program provides up to $1,500 in matching grant college savings money to eligible families. https://NevadaTreasurer.gov

*Assumptions: $50 monthly investments for a period of 18 years with an annual rate of return on investment of 7%. **Assumptions: www.collegesavings.org/whysaveforcollege aspx: Reduce the Reliance on Debt *** The College Board: Trends in College Pricing, 2006 † The College Board: Trends in Student Aid, 2006

Powered By:

Moms Making A Million Join www.MomsMakingaMillion. com for a FREE membership, FREE workbooks, FREE workshops and advice to help you get the Financial Information you need in a supportive and safe atmosphere.

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 13

And the Winner iS… Tobi Kosanke President of Crazy K Farm

Tobi Kosanke, Ph.D., the President of Crazy K Farm, comes from a long line of self educated businessmen and feisty domestic divas. She broke with family tradition to become the first woman to go to college and the first person in several generations to work for people who were not family members.

Trained as a geologist, Dr. Kosanke worked for a major oil company, largely telecommuting to care for an ill child. When a new manager forced her to choose between her career and her child, she chose her child -- and returned to her roots, reinventing herself as a stay-at-home Mom-prepreneur.

PAGE 14 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

Tobi’s business, Crazy K Farm (http://www.crazykfarm.com) is a 35-acre working farm located just outside of Houston.

It is owned and operated by Tobi who is a working mom, inventor and entrepreneur.

Congratulations!

Moms In Business Grant Award Winner! lives into a successful business manufacturing innovative, patented pet and poultry products.

Through hard work, persistence, self education, coaching from the small business development center, and a rabid emphasis on branding, marketing and customer service, she grew Crazy K Farm from its humble origins two years ago as a manufacturer of one-off items sold on EBay, into a multiaward-winning business that has sold tens of thousands of products to pet stores and appreciative pet and chicken owners in the US, Canada, Europe and beyond.

Crazy K Farm, by the way, were the first three words that her daughter learned to read.

A petroleum patch geologist by trade, Kosanke has always worked to improve her pets’ lives by creating useable, necessary products: uu Her first invention was the newly patented Hen Saver hen apron (http://www.hensaver.com), which is a triple-layer apron designed to protect hens from roosters and birds of prey. uu Next came the Avian Haven hut (http://www. avianhavenhut.com), a unique hut that hangs over an existing perch and allows the bird to sleep in a natural perching position. uu The Kitty Holster (http://www.kittyholster.com), her third invention, is an ultra lightweight cat harness.

Along with winning the national Moms In Business Grant

(www.MomsinBusinessGrant.com),

Kosanke’s story is highlighted in a special series on women who once climbed corporate ladders before leaving to run their own show.

uu She is currently working on a fourth invention called the Hen Holster, which is a chicken diaper/harness. All of her products are marketed and sold through Crazy K Farm.

Crazy K Farm was profitable in its first full calendar year in business. “I have always felt that my business is the epitome of a successful Mom-owned business,” says Kosanke.

While many moms have turned hobbies into full-time, athome businesses, Kosanke left Corporate America and started up her own business out of necessity.

“The operation of Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry Products was originally organized around my child’s requirements, and as she began to outgrow the illness that so deeply affected her physical and emotional wellbeing, so did the business grow and transform, all the while enabling me to fully accommodate my daughter’s needs. By the time my daughter was well enough to start school this past February, my business had grown from its very humble origins as a manufacturer of pre-paid, made-to-order items sold solely via my personal eBay account, to my products being

Along with winning the national Moms In Business Grant (www.MomsinBusinessGrant.com), Kosanke’s story is highlighted in a special series on women who once climbed corporate ladders before leaving to run their own show.

Dr. Kosanke started Crazy K Farm during a deep recession, turning her hobby of inventing unique items to increase the quality of her cats’, parrots’ and chickens’

Continued on page 16 Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 15

! i b o T s n o i t a l u t a r Cong

Continued from page 15

“With the success of my mom -owned business comes the responsibility of giving back to the community, specifically to moms and other women,” Crazy K Farm ownerTobi Kosanke said. “To that end, Crazy K Farm is introducing pink-colored varieties of our products. I can’t think of a better way to support women as a whole than to join the fight against breast cancer.”

Kosanke is no stranger to giving back to the community.

She owns a working farm in Texas with 200 animals – nearly all of them rescues – and the former oil patch geologist, who once developed pet products as a hobby, found herself in business last year when she was faced with needing the funds to feed and care for them. “Over the years my main hobby had been creating products to improve the quality of my animals’ lives,” “The company’s growth and success has been tremendous,” Kosanke said, “and I am thrilled to be able to donate 10% of the sales from our new pink products to organizations that help save lives.”

Congratulations Tobi!

manufactured by the tens of thousands in Bangladesh and sold in stores across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.”

Pets undoubtedly hold an honorary position in many families across the country, and their owners go to great lengths just to make their tails wag. Special foods, toys and treats are bought in record numbers.

Over the past several years, pet product companies have worked overtime to ensure that Fido, Fluffy and Polly are also the best dressed on the block. Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry products, LLC is adding to the growing selection, but it comes with a twist. The company is now offering pink products in its Kitty Holster® and Hen Saver® lines, and donating a percentage of their sales to breast cancer research.

PAGE 16 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

The Moms In Business Grant is the firstever crowdfunding business grant in the nation, and we are proud to be helping moms grow their businesses in innovative and exceptional ways. Our 2011 Moms In Business Grant helped raise over $7000 to help moms start their businesses and included an additional $12,000 in grant prize grant of cash and business growth tools!

Moms In Business Grant 2012 coaching calls will start in July 2011, so sign up now and get over $5000 in free marketing and business coaching before the grant even starts! www.MomsinBusinessGrant.com.

10

Fascinating Facts about Business On June 14, the U.S. Census Bureau served up the latest release from its 2007 Survey of Business Owners, and it supplied some interesting information about how businesses function and are financed.

Consider the following “Ten Fascinating Facts about Business” based on the Census findings: • 51.6 percent of businesses were operated primarily from someone’s home.

• 23.8 percent of employer firms operated out of a home.

• 62.9 percent of non-employer businesses were home-based.

• 20.8 percent of new businesses used no start-up capital.

• “Roughly three in 10 (30.6 percent) of the respondent firms that required start-up capital launched their business with less than $5,000. Of the firms that needed start-up capital, 17.5 percent of employer firms needed less than $5,000; for nonemployer firms, the figure was 35.8 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, 1.5 percent of the firms needing start up capital required $1 million or more for this purpose.”

• “One in 10 businesses (10.4 percent) was started or acquired by owners who used a credit card to finance the start-up or acquisition of their business. A similar percentage (10.7 percent) financed their start-up or acquisition with a business loan from a bank or financial institution.”

• Surprisingly, “e-commerce sales were reported by only 6.6 percent of firms.”

• “About 28.2 percent of firms were family-owned. These family-owned firms accounted for 42.0 percent of all firms’ receipts.”

• “Business owners were well-educated: 50.8 percent of owners of respondent firms had a college degree.”

• And 13.6 percent of business owners were foreign born. .

Raymond J. Keating, Chief Economist Want to grow your business faster by selling to BIG companies?

Don’t miss our B2BMoms “Meet the Buyers” Online Summit coming in September! Go to www.B2BMoms.com for more information.

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Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 17

MARKETING WITHOUT MONEY

By Gina Robison-Billups

To Have a Website or Not To Have a Website?

For small and micro businesses, expensive ecommerce websites could be in question.

In

a wonderful interview at the B2BMoms. com Prep for Success Online Summit with Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable.com and author of the New York Times best-selling book Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook and other social networks, (likeablebook.com), our online summit attendees were amazed at the simple, yet effective ways to use social media to market their business for free.

For instance, did you know you could sell products via your facebook page? We didn’t. The question actually came up, “Why do many small businesses need a website at all, when they can get nearly the same functionality from free resources?”

Dave’s answer: question.”

“Good

In an era when everyone is trying to get followers on Twitter, fans on Facebook, and connections on LinkedIn, it has seemed that it was all in an effort to get people to your site to buy your product. Now, for some, you can cut out the “middle man” and focus on getting followers on Facebook and sell your products or services directly from there.

If Google is taking over the world, then watch out small business because Facebook may be taking over the world of ecommerce.

Although Facebook doesn’t offer an online store functionality (yet), it does offer a space for a storefront and other applications can help you finish the sale without the client actually leaving your Facebook page.

For instance, did you know you could sell products via your facebook page?

Dave mentioned that his client, 1-800-FLOWERS, sells via Facebook. I checked out their Facebook page and was amazed that I really could order my flowers and never leave their Facebook page. In addition there was an additional incentive to get me to “Like” their Facebook page. I haven’t done it yet, but curiosity is really getting to me and I may have to “join” their fanpage to do a little more digging around.

So, of course, when you want to figure out how to do something, what do you do? You google, “How to sell products on facebook page?” 214,000 results came up.

 PAGE 18 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

To Have a Website or Not To Have a Website?

What I have found is that these programs LOOK like you are buying within Facebook, like with 1-800-FLOWERS, but you are really buying from the main website service.

According to Tim Ware of SocialMediaExaminer. com, “Alvenda.com utilizes Adobe Flash to create its functionality for its many customers which include 1-800-Flowers, Delta Airlines and Brooks Brothers. The Flash “widget” is actually located on a non-Facebook server and is pulled into the Facebook “chrome” via a custom Facebook iFrame application.” The biggest problem says Tim, “The entire e-commerce widget ù which is contained in the iFrame ù is built in Flash. This means that the many millions of users accessing the site via their iPhones, iTouches or iPads won’t be able to use the shopping feature, as Apple does not allow Flash to run on its mobile and tablet devices.”

Yeah, that’s a really big problem an it’s one that many small and microbusiness owners can’t afford financially or in loss of eyeballs of potential customers.

This kind of stuff is not for the “No Money Marketing” crowd; however, there are some ways you can sell your products on your Facebook page, and it won’t cost you any upfront money.

Fortunately for many small businesses, there is one option available that is free, fully integrated into the Facebook experience, and doesn’t rely on Flash.

Top

Option for Small Business and The MicroBusiness Moms”: I’m going with Tim’s recommendation on this. Payvment. com is, in his opinion, the top option, and according to my research it seems the easiest to understand and most straight forward. It is considered the leading shopping platform inside Facebook.

Payvment utilizes PayPal’s “Adaptive Payments” API to provide what Tim calls, “the most fully integrated Facebook shopping experience to date.”

Tim goes on to say, “Payvment’s feature set is pretty amazing, including full integration with Facebook and a seamless Facebook experience, product search, Facebookwide shopping cart system (their “Open Cart Network”

Continued from page 18

technology) that enables customers to complete their purchase from any storefront on Facebook, ability to customize with HTML, and TRUSTe privacy.”

Payvment transforms Facebook into a gigantic department store where users can keep their purchases with them across thousands of Payvment-powered storefronts on Facebook and do the checkout at any point.

Payvment also features support for FedEx and UPS automatic shipping calculations, as well as the ability for retailers to provide instant discounts and coupons to users who “Like” their page.

Also, and importantly, once you have simply added the Payvment application to your page, you can add and manage your products right within the application.”

For many small business owners, this conversation may already be a little confusing, and to tell you the truth, social media and technology can feel like a foreign language because it is However, it is the language of modern commerce and if you want to sell your stuff, you must expand your knowledge and at least know enough of this new language so you’re not out-pace, out-dated, out-sold, or out of business.

5

more options for members of Moms In Business who don’t have a website: 1. Sears.com is offering a marketplace where small and microbusiness can become vendors selling via Sears.com.

If you are in one of their “local marketplace” vendors (Chicago only right now), then they will also provide your products as options in their personal delivery service. Normally, to be a vendor of the Sears.com marketplace, you would need to pay a $39.99/month fee and a commission. For members of the National Association For Moms In Business, Sears is waiving the monthly fee and lowering the sales commission.

Continued on page 24 Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 19

Flexible Schedule is Key to Keeping Working Moms on the Job

W

omen who return to work after giving birth are more likely to stay on the job if they have greater control over their work schedules, according to a Baylor University study.

Researchers also found that job security and the ability to make use of a variety of their job skills leads to greater retention of working moms, while the impact of work-related stress on their physical and mental health causes greater turnover.

The study is published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

“Having a flexible schedule is an important element necessary to decrease working mom turnover because it can be used when work demands arise,” said Dawn S. Carlson, Ph.D., study author, professor of management and H. R. Gibson Chair of Organizational Development at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, Waco.

“When confronted by one or more job demands, a flexible schedule provides working moms with alternatives for meeting those demands while caring for their newborns.

When working moms are better able to control their work environment and adapt, work-related stress is less likely to become a family issue,” she said.

According to 2008 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71 percent of women with children under the age of 18 were working or looking for work, and nearly 60 percent of women with young children were employed. Yet, a large number of mothers who return to work after childbirth subsequently leave the labor force. Very little is known about the factors that play a role in women’s work decisions after childbirth.

The transition back to work is pivotal for a new mother, and this study offers important insight into the understanding of how a job can either contribute to or detract from the mother’s decision to stay with her employer after she returns to work, said Carlson.

The researchers surveyed 179 full-time working mothers in North Carolina with an average age of 31 years. Of the group, 72 percent was white, 27 percent was black and PAGE 20 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

one percent was Asian. The majority, 79 percent, was married. They worked an average of 39.7 hours per week and planned on returning to work 30 or more hours by four months postpartum. The duration of maternity leave was six weeks, but only 48.1 percent reported having paid maternity leave. Among the new mothers, 40 percent reported that the recent birth was their first child. For the study, they completed an interview survey at four months postpartum, eight months postpartum and 12 months postpartum.

Job security also plays an important role in decision-making.

When job security is high, workers are not distracted by worry or exhausted by strain. Instead, they are able to engage more fully in responsibilities inside and outside the workplace.

“Job security heightens motivation and energy, particularly for mothers who are sensitive to the security of their jobs after returning from maternity leave. When working mothers believe that their tenure with an organization is not at risk, they will have more energy and other resources with which to fully engage and perform both at work and at home,” Continued on page 24

New Survey Reveals: When it Comes to Back-to-School Shopping, Moms Are Still Old School Moms plan to spend more than last year, but social media and online purchasing play only minimal roles in how she shops School Family Media, Inc., a marketing and media services company focused exclusively on promoting and enabling meaningful parent involvement at K-8 schools, recently released the results of their 2011 Back-to-School Shopping Survey. The results, garnered in June 2011 via an online survey with 1,400 women with school age kids responding, reveal some unexpected trends in moms’ shopping preferences and intentions for the upcoming back-to-school season.

“We work with moms all year, across all demographics, who are engaged with their kids’ education, so we were uniquely positioned to gain and share some insights about moms’ attitudes regarding back-to-school shopping,” said John Driscoll, President – Consumer Connections, School Family Media. “What we found interesting was that despite the emergence of new technologies and communication platforms, moms aren’t planning on utilizing these much when it comes to their back-to-school shopping. In fact, social media was moms’ least preferred method for receiving information about products and promotions, and 90 percent of moms still planned to make the majority of their purchases at actual stores versus online.”

Moms did show they are active online and receptive to marketing outreach when it comes to their email inbox however. Over 70 percent chose “Email from brand/store” as one of their most preferred ways to receive information about back-to-school products and promotions.

According to the survey, moms are:  Not looking to social media for information about products and promotions

Respondents reported that Facebook and Twitter were their least preferred method for receiving information about backto-school products and promotions. Most preferred methods were emails directly from brands or retail stores followed by Sunday newspaper inserts, personal referrals from family and friends, brand/store websites, magazines, and radio/tv.

 Making majority of purchases at actual stores vs. online Asked if they were more likely to make purchases online or at a retail store, respondents overwhelmingly chose the latter Continued on page 25 Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 21

Toyota

Giving 100 Cars to Non-Profits

Toyota

announced the first 25 winners of the Toyota 100 Cars for Good program, which awards 100 vehicles over the course of 100 days to 100 deserving non-profits.

Winners of the Toyota 100 Cars for Good program are determined based on voting from the public. Each day, five organizations are profiled on Toyota’s Facebook page where the public is invited to show their support by voting to determine the winning non-profit organization.

Each daily winner will be awarded a new Toyota vehicle to help the organizations continue to do “good” in their local communities. The remaining finalists will each receive a $1000 grant from Toyota.

The first 25 winners spanned several categories including animal welfare & wildlife, arts & culture, education, health & safety, and human services. From promoting the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of adolescents to alleviating the suffering of abandoned, abused and injured animals, a variety of worthy causes were shared on the finalists’ profiles and ultimately selected by the public to receive a new vehicle to further support their missions.

Public voting for the 100 Cars for Good program opened May 9 and will continue through August 16. Voters may place one vote per day, each day, over the course of the program. Each day, the previous day’s winner will be announced and five new non-profit organizations will be featured for voting. Winning organizations can choose from PAGE 22 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

the following vehicles: Prius, Tacoma, Tundra, Highlander Hybrid, Sienna or Sienna Mobility. With each vehicle, Toyota Financial Services will provide a six-year, 100,000 mile Toyota Vehicle Service Agreement to provide extended protection beyond the vehicle warranty.

The 500 finalists, from which the 100 winners are ultimately selected, were chosen by an independent panel of judges who are experts in the fields of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

Do you use giveaways to market your business, or do you just love to find out about the latest in giveaways being offered?

Join the www.GiveawayConnection.com community of over 1500 followers and find the best things in life really can be free,

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Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 23

To Have a Website or Not To Have a Website?

Continued from page 19

2. Professional Profile Pages: In the left column at www.mibn.org you will see a “Member Profiles”.

When you are not logged into your account, the profiles rotate to show a different member’s profile with each page viewed. It also links to any blog posts and forum discussions you posted on, so that viewers can see what’s going on with you and what topics you are engaging in. When you are logged in, it just shows yours so you can update images quickly.

Flexible Schedule is Key to Keeping Working Moms on the Job

Continued from page 20

3. Your Blog: Do you have a blog or want a blog?

You can promote your current blog or have a unique blog on www.mibn.org that is connected to your Member profile page. You can also feature items in your blog that are for sale with links to purchase.

4. Sales Page: In the Connection Circles (forums), which links to your Professional Profile, is an area where you can list all your latest sales events, discounts and coupons.

All your posts in the Connection Circles Forums are accessible to your profile page.

Here too, you can also feature items that are on sale with links to purchase.

added Merideth J. Ferguson, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor and a coauthor of the study.

5. Jobs Board: Are you looking to hire quality help? We’ve just launched a beta program called HIRING: Moms at www.hiringmoms.com.

All members can post a job on the boards (in the Connection Circle forums) and all your job postings will be linked to your Member Profile.

Looking for a great job? Looking for great people? If you are, then you need to join the National Association For Moms In Business and start getting involved in our www.HiringMoms. com program. It’s brand new!

Results suggest that employers may be able to promote beneficial outcomes through systematic attempts to increase the use of a working mom’s skills by cross-training her for multiple functions. Mental and physical health play an important role in retaining working mothers and deserve attention, such as through employee assistance programs, support systems, or more integrative work-life initiatives, Carlson concluded.

“Although further research is needed, the results of this study indicate the impact of job characteristics on workfamily relations that play a role in the mental and physical health and retention of working mothers as they make the pivotal transition back to work after childbirth,” she said.

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PAGE 24 • June, 2011 • Moms In Business Magazine

New Survey Reveals: continued from page 21

with 89% indicating clothes/apparel purchases would be made at a store vs. online (11%). The category with the highest anticipated online purchases was technology-related equipment (computers, software and cell phones) where 28% anticipated making those purchases online vs. at a store.  Spending more this year, compared to last year – but still price-conscious More than twice as many respondents (29% to 14%) reported they anticipated spending more on back-to-school shopping than last year with 57% indicating they would spend the same as last year. The clothing /apparel category was cited the most by respondents for where their increased spending would occur.

As moms spend more, value appears to be more important than ever, as the vast majority (75%) listed price or coupon/ promotional offer as the biggest factor influencing their purchases followed by quality, convenience and selection.

 Not rushing to complete shopping before the first day of school A surprising number of respondents (38%) indicated they would make the bulk of their purchases AFTER school starts. Even in the clothing/apparel category, more than 1 out of every 5 respondents indicated they would do the bulk of their shopping after school starts.

Powered By:Markeitng 2 Moms Marketing2Moms.com, a program of the National Association for Moms In Business, is leading the charge to affordably and effectively help members more effectively market to the #1 consumer in America.

Founder Gina Robison-Billups Editor Design/Layout Eugenia Martini-Jarrett Eugenia@MIBN.org Advertising: Gina Robison-Billups Gina@MIBN.org Published by NAFMIB, the National Association for Moms In Business.

The Leading National Association Representing Executive, Entrepreneur and CEO Moms MIBN.org, NAFMIB.org Copyright 2011, © International Association For Moms In Business.

See www.MIBN.org for full copyright page All Rights Reserved

Moms In Business Magazine • June 2011 • PAGE 25