Where Has All The Good Marketing Gone? How To Run A Giveaway on Facebook
Apply For the Moms In Business Grant Career Change 7 Steps to a New You!
Basics of Viral Marketing
Love Your Business Day Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 1
PAGE 2 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 3
NOTES
From The Founder
Gina Robison-Billups; NAFMIB Founder, CEO
Listening is the Key to
Success
H
ow often are we reminded by our children that we need to stop and listen. We say we want an honest, healthy, close relationship with our kids, spouse, coworkers, and employees, but how often do you walk that talk? I was recently asked to participate in a meeting at the White House with
several key senior officials and business owners. To my surprise two things happened. One key senior staffer who had “Advisor to the President” after his name and title, said, “We’re here to listen to your ideas and thoughts on job creation, but first, let me tell you about some things to give you an example of what kinds of things are happening with business and government coming together.” After that, he really didn’t shut up for another 30 minutes, until his counterpart finally had to stop him to open it up for questions and discussion. When certain business leaders actually gave suggestions on job creation, he presented his opposing point of view for another 10 minutes. “A pompous, arrogant ass,” is how one man described that speaker. I explained to him that most likely the speaker wasn’t, he was just passionate, mission-driven, and that he liked the “Art of War”. “He seemed to like to win – at everything,” I said. “If you want to communicate with him, it will have to be like playing chess. He thinks he’s got the “checkmate” – now it’s your move.” Unfortunately, this White House staffer lost followers of his impassioned beliefs because he didn’t engage in listening and therefore he didn’t engage anyone else in the room. Next time you want to succeed and be seen as a true leader in your family, your church, or your company – it’s easy. Just sit back, ask questions, listen (write notes!) and engage the other person by showing genuine interest. Keep listening! Best Wishes,
Gina PAGE 4 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
INSIDE
February
4 NOTES
20
2012
28
from the Founder/CEO, Gina Robison-Billups
NOW 6 10 16 18
Moms Minutes
Important Tips and Briefs
News
Updates
Moms Vote Matters
Instant Impact Legislative Update
Calendar of Events
Featured events, conferences and more
FEATURE 20
Where Are They Now? Interviews with the 2011 Moms In Business Grant Recipient and the Runner Up
30
STANDOUT 24
How To Run A Giveaway on Facebook
26
Persistence and Financial Focus
28 30 32
People love a good contest. But running a good contest on Facebook isn’t simple.
34
Keys to My Government Contracting successes
What Can Saturday Morning Cartoons Teach Us About Investing?
Remember Saturday mornings, cartoons, pajamas and a bowl of cereal.
Career Change - 7 Steps to a New You!
It is now accepted that people will have several career changes in their working lifetime.
Basics of Viral Marketing
Many people in the business of internet marketing ask: what is viral marketing?
34
Where Has All The Good Marketing Gone?
37
Wisdoms for Thought
What You Can Learn From Top Marketers
Now Accepting Article Submissions for the National Association of Moms In Business Magazine. For guidelines and submission information visit the NAFMIB Writer’s Guidelines
Cover Art
dream BIG by Karla Rehm
Karla Rehm is a dynamic artist!
Her creativity inspires your mind and spirit through work that visually expresses the power of positive affirmations in manifesting personal aspirations and passion. Her work has been displayed in galleries in New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona and is owned by collectors worldwide. She also inspires the physical spirit as a personal trainer supporting clients in creating positive body images. She grew up in Denver, Colorado and graduated from Rocky Mountain School of Art. Karla has traveled the world as a military spouse; teaching fitness and creating artwork that reflected her experiences in various cultures and communities. She currently lives in Las Vegas and loves it! Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 5
NOW
Moms Minutes
Bald & Beautiful Barbie W
hen 11-year old, singer/songwriter Miranda Finn wrote a song and posted a video on YouTube, she had no idea her song, “Maybe I Can Change this World,” was so aptly named. Four days later, Jane Bingham, the woman leading the Facebook charge for Mattel to produce a “Bald and Beautiful” Barbie with a bald head in support of pediatric cancer patients suffering from hair loss, contacted Miranda to ask to use it as their “theme song” to show young girls fighting cancer that bald can be beautiful. “I was so sad to hear about kids fighting cancer and going through so much, including losing their hair,” said Miranda Finn. “It makes me happy to think my song can make them smile.” The Beautiful and Bald Barbie movement has been growing rapidly. Www.facebook. com/BeautifulandBaldBarbie has been up for three weeks and has more than 40,000 fans dedicated to pushing Mattel to produce a bald and beautiful Barbie doll. Media Contact: Robin Finn MirandaFinn Music, 310-918-9351, robininla AT hotmail. com
Most Engaging and Influential U.S. Presidential Candidates on Facebook
Socialbakers has launched a campaign
to identify the most (and least) influential, engaging and popular presidential candidates on Facebook:
NBC’s
“The Biggest Loser” host Alison Sweeney and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, makers of Science Diet® and Prescription Diet® pet foods, kick-off the Million Pound Pledge – a national call-to-action for pet owners to help their cats and dogs lose weight and get back on track to living a happy, healthy lifestyle. Join Alison in taking the pledge by visiting www.PetFit. com through March 30 and enter for the chance to meet her at “The Biggest
Loser” live finale in May. Chubby pets are no laughing matter. Obesity in America started with adults, trickled down to children and is now affecting our pets. A staggering 54 percent of America’s pet population is overweight and at risk for heart disease, diabetes and a shortened life expectancy.
PAGE 6 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
• Obama is leading with the most number of fans at 24 million, followed by Mitt Romney at 1.3 million, Ron Paul with 672,483 and Michelle Bachmann with 460,336. • Rick Santorum has the fastestgrowing fan base throughout the last 30 days (23-percent growth) surpassing Jon Huntsman’s growth (18-percent growth). • Ron Paul has the highest overall viral reach, followed by Mitt
Romney and Rick Perry
Moms Minutes
Free Wi-Fi is the Make it or Break it Factor in Hotel Booking In a recent Hotels.com survey, guests
reported that free Wi-Fi is a must when choosing a hotel room and that this amenity overwhelmingly factored into the decision on which hotel to book. Thirty-eight percent of travelers reported that free Wi-Fi played a part in their decision as a “must” to stay at a specific hotel, 35 percent reported it is the simple amenity they want to see more in hotels, with 31 percent wishing it would become a standard in all hotels in 2012. Guests say most luxury items aren’t worth the hype, the bathroom phone remains untouched and most guests don’t steal from their rooms. To round out the tech responses, 23 percent of guests stated their favorite modern in-room amenity was the use of iPads for guest services, local information and personal use. This ranked above air purifiers/humidifiers, high-end coffee makers, iPod dock, massage chairs, video game systems, universal remote rooms and workout equipment/DVDs. Second to technology, guests are most pleased when their favorite food and beverages are provided during their hotel stay. · 45 percent reported that their favorite new amenities are: happy hours, wine tastings or any other time with free food and drinks · 31 percent of travelers expressed their wish to see more complimentary bottled water in their hotel rooms (34 percent of female travelers; 24 percent of male travelers.)
SBA Urges Earthquake Survivors to Apply Now; New Counties Added to the Declaration
The Small Business Administration encourages homeowners,
renters and businesses in Virginia impacted by the earthquake and aftershocks that occurred on Aug. 23 through Oct. 25, 2011, to return their completed loan applications before the March 5 deadline. “Currently, 107 homes and 7 businesses disaster loans have been approved in the amount of $2,330,400 for affected survivors,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta. “We are pleased to be able to get these loans approved so residents and businesses in the disaster area can continue to rebuild and resume their normal lives.” “Waiting to file an SBA application could cause unnecessary delays in receiving disaster assistance, and many may miss the extended application deadline of March 5. I encourage anyone who has not completed their disaster loan application to meet with Customer Service Representatives at one of the Disaster Recovery Centers for one-on-one assistance,” added Skaggs For assistance and Disaster Recovery Centers locations, call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan application forms can be downloaded from www.sba.gov.
SUBWAY®
Adds 24,000 Jobs in 2011, Expects to Add 25,000 in 2012 Through the opening of more than 2,400 restaurants worldwide, including 1,100 new locations just in the U.S. and Canada alone, the SUBWAY® restaurant chain created approximately 24,000 new foodservice job and career opportunities in 2011. By opening an additional 2,500 outlets by the end of 2012, it expects to add another 25,000 full and part time positions— and this doesn’t include jobs in ancillary fields, such as construction, logistics, equipment manufacturing, food processing, maintenance, etc.
The SUBWAY® chain was recently named the top ranked restaurant brand in Entrepreneur magazine’s annual Franchise 500 listings. The magazine’s January 2012 issue and website also lists SUBWAY® restaurants as the #2 overall franchise opportunity, #2 fastest growing franchise and the #2 Global franchise. Also in 2011, the Zagat® Fast Food Survey ranked the SUBWAY® brand “number one” in the “Most Popular,” “Top Service” and “Healthy Options” categories for food brands with 5,000 or more locations.
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 7
Moms Minutes
Continued
Restaurant Launches Kids Program For Mom's iPads & iPhones
T
exas Roadhouse, Inc., which operates 355 restaurants in 46 states, has launched a socialmarketing enabled coloring app for iPads and iPhones that allows kids and parents to design, paint, save and share their original TXRH-themed art creations in-store, at home, and across the families’ social network. The coloring app is called Andy’s Art Kit, named after the Texas Roadhouse mascot, Andy Armadillo, and is accessible via QR codes printed on kids menus in-store, or searching iTunes for Andy’s Art Kit. Dave Dodson, Communications Director for Texas Roadhouse restaurants, sees the changing habits of moms as the real driver behind the launch. “Our focus is to create value for moms, kids and families, in everything we do. We see a coloring app as perfectly relevant, value added fun for moms, and for kids, whether at home or in our restaurants.”
Over
140 Million People Watched Online Video in 2011
Online video continues to increase in popularity, with 143 million Americans watching content online in 2011 according to the latest report from media analysts Nielsen. The most popular video website is YouTube, which received 126.5 million unique visitors in 2011 but in terms of the time spend on the website the Google owned site comes second after Netflix. YouTube viewers spend an average of 2 hours and 52 minutes watching content on the site, compared to Netflix viewers who view for 10 hours and 1 minute per month. Mobile video is also becoming more and more important to consumers, and 30 million people watched content on their smartphone last year. The Nielsen report also found that 34% of customers used video clips as their preferred source to find information about products and services. PAGE 8 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
The number of women obtaining patents has grown at an accelerating rate over the past 35 years
The largest spike came in 2010, when 22,984 patents
were granted to women, a 35 percent jump over the previous year, according to a recent study from the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC). In 2009, women received 17,061 patents, a 4.5 percent increase over the 16,321 issued in 2008. The study, which also will examine data on women with trademarks, is the first of its kind to explore this issue in depth, mainly because federal patent and trademark applicants did not ask for gender information. Newlypassed legislation will allow USPTO to start tracking gender data this year. “Patent and trademark ownership often is an indicator of entrepreneurial activity – and historically, women have not been a large segment of this group. A bump in IP ownership could indicate strong growth in women-owned companies,” said NWBC Chair Donna James. “NWBC actively sought out this study because little research has specifically examined women business owners and intellectual property.” source: NWBC.gov
New Google New Search Engine is Cause for Alarm Google’s Search Plus Your World, which for blogging purposes will be referred to as SPYW, now incorporates results from Google+ for users who are logged into Google. While it is a great idea to connect searchers with social results, Google is getting slammed for favoring their platform Google+, which is undeniably true. Now, when conducting a Google search, you have the option of viewing personalized results up top and on the right-hand side of the results, Google suggests people/pages on Google+ to add to your circles. The suggested pages to add, mind you, are all from Google+. We have yet to see any suggestions for Facebook or Twitter pages. The same goes for the results. If you decide to follow the link to your personalized results, you will find that 90% of the results are people or articles for Google+, the other 10% is YouTube. And Google wonders why they’re being accused of nepotism? The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on Thursday urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate. The FTC is already investigating whether Google has violated antitrust law by using its dominant position in online searches to give it an unfair advantage in other markets, such as map services and videos. Twitter also criticized the search changes, calling them “bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.” Source: titan-seo
Moms Minutes
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 9
NOW
News
BREAKING NEWS!
The 2012 Moms In Business Grant Is Almost Here! ($50,000!) MARK THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR: February 14, 2012 – Celebrate Love Your Business Day – Submit Your Application! Applications Accepted/Profile Building March 8, 2012 – International Women’s Day - Launch of Moms In Business Grant Competition April 30, 2012 – Celebration of Moms In Business Grant Crowdfunding Competition Concludes May 13, 2012 – Mother’s Day - National Announcement of Moms In Business Grant GRAND PRIZE recipient
And Now the NEWS!
The National Association For Moms In Business (NAFMIB), the leading association representing the fifteen million entrepreneur, executive and CEO moms in the United States hosts the 2012 Moms In Business Grant. The Moms In Business Grant uses the Internet phenomenon of “crowdfunding” to give mom business owners a better chance at launching a new business or current business project. It’s the first and only business grant competition to utilize crowdfunding and is expanding and innovating the way mom business owners can get capital for their businesses. According to the SBA, Women own over 9 million businesses yet they receive the least amount of financing from traditional sources. Women traditionally own smaller types of businesses that don’t meet financial assistance minimums of banks and venture capital firms. “Crowdfunding” is a platform to raise money by attracting many small donations from a large group (friends, family, professional contacts) to meet a funding goal. “Backers” give contributions in exchange for rewards or perks offered by the grant applicant - rewards can be any product, service or experience to which the grant applicant has access. “Moms In Business is giving a crowdfunding business grant rather than using the traditional grant-giving model for three reasons,” says founder and president of the National Association For Moms In Business, Gina Robison-Billups, “We wanted to provide an innovative way to motivate moms to kick start or grow their businesses. In addition, it’s an “everybody wins” scenario where all those that participate have the opportunity to raise money, create exposure, and build a following for their business, and lastly, due to the promotional requirements to be successful via crowdfunding, it’s a good way to identify those entrepreneurs who will go the extra mile to publicize and build their ventures therefore making them ideal candidates for our grand prize grant of $10,000 in business growth tools.”
A Woman to Watch! Gina Robison-Billups, founder/CEO of the National Association For Moms In Business, is named VEGAS Inc’s 2012 Woman to Watch. VEGAS INC celebrates Las Vegas’ leading women at the 2012 Women to Watch Awards inside the House of Blues Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay PAGE 10 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Honorees will be recognized in the “Women to Watch” special publication, which will be included in the Monday, Jan. 30 issue of VEGAS INC. Nominated by their peers and clients, individuals who met criteria, as decided by an independent panel of judges, will be recognized at the annual ceremony. VEGAS INC’s Women to Watch is a unique program showcasing women who will have a strong impact on 2012 and have demonstrated significant business accomplishments within their industry.
Love Your Business!
Celebrate Love Your Business Day – feel like your business is your other spouse or your extra child? Well here’s a way to celebrate the love you have for your business too – by doing something great for it (and you!). The National Association For Moms In Business is putting together an initiative to have all business owners do a little extra something special for themselves and their business. Love Your Business Day is encouraging a full-day of specials, discounts and giveaways that companies will be giving to you for your business success. Have a successful relationship with your business – show it some love!
2 Incredible Events for International Women’s Day! – March 8th Moms In Business Welcomes the White House to Las Vegas!
Nevada Moms In Business Member Circle and Women Impacting Public Policy will host a morning event from 8:30 to 11:30am on March 8th to celebrate the power that women have by giving women business owners a voice. The event will feature government leaders and White House officials. For more information, look to our website and breaking news about this event is announced.
An Incredible Party!
MJ Christensen Diamonds is hosting their annual International Women’s Day Celebration in Las Vegas, NV to raise money and awareness of The International Association of Working Mothers. The company also honors a special woman who is making and has made significant achievements towards the advancement of women. This year, Gina Robison-Billups, founder/CEO of The International Association of Working Mothers (the parent organization of the National Association For Moms In Business). Along with the honor, the party will have a raffle with great prizes, a “Women on the Go” Fashion Show, free gifts for everyone, free food and drinks, cupcakes, martinis, and more. MJ Christensen will also unveil a special jewelry piece they have designed for supporters of The International Association of Working Mothers. March 8th 6-8pm at MJ Christensen Diamonds at 10400 S. Eastern (towards Anthem) in Henderson, NV
You can now buy advertising in Moms In Business Magazine! For a Limited Time Only - You can buy a 1/8th page ad in Moms In Business Magazine for only $97 a month. Space is limited. Moms In Business magazine averages over 100,000 page views a month. That’s an incredibly powerful advertising for very little. You must be a member to advertising (membership starts at only $29/ year!) Corporate members receive all the benefits of membership and the 1/8th page ad is included when you sign up or renew your Corporate Membership for 2012!
We’re Giving Away $112 a month in 2012!
Want a chance to win $112? It’s simple. Download the Moms In Business Toolbar to your browser and access the monthly drawing from your toolbar “Rewards” button. We also have other great prizes we are giving away each month in addition to the $112. Liking Us on our Facebook page gets your DOUBLE points. Members get TRIPLE entries every time they enter each month’s giveaway. Rules: 1. You must be a toolbar rewards user to access the giveaway sign up. 2. You must sign up at least once each month for the giveaway. You can enter up to once per day. Bonus Entries: 1. If you “Like” our Facebook page, your one entry will count as two entries. 2. If you are a member of the National Association For Moms In Business, your one entry counts as three entries. Using your toolbar is a fundraiser for The International Association of Working Mothers is a charitable, tax-exempt, 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to making a significant difference in building and sustaining healthy communities by unlocking the potential of working mothers through advocacy and education. Through our programs, we serve as an advocate and resource for economic and social justice by providing opportunities for working mothers to cultivate leadership to build strong families and strong communities. Use your toolbar for searches often and daily. It’s a great way to give money to charity without having to give your own money. Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 11
Announcing the
Moms In Business
SUPER TOOLBAR! The Moms In Business Super Toolbar is a free search and navigation companion that accompanies you as you surf the internet, providing useful information about the sites you visit without interrupting your Web browsing AND giving you INSTANT ACCESS to the tools you value most at Moms In Business After you install the Moms In Business Toolbar, you will have a new toolbar built into your browser that looks like this: 99 Search the Web and other resources directly from your Moms In Business Toolbar. 99 Convenient access to Moms In Business tools and resources. 99 Direct access to Moms In Business Members. 99 One click gets you to the latest edition of Moms In Business Magazine no waiting for an email or searching the site. 99 Special Rewards - Yep, ONLY for those with the Moms In Business Toolbar - a special link to sign up for special giveaways and rewards.
Features of the Moms In Business Toolbar Web Search
The Moms In Business Web Search is a whole new way to search the web. Begin by typing your search term into the box then press enter. You will be transported to a world of behind-the-scenes information about each site on the web. Use the Moms In Business Web Search and know before you go. In addition, every time you use the Moms In Business Web Search feature you raise money for charity.
Get Connected!
Moms In Business Connection Forums allows you instant access to other members and over 500 unique visitors each day. Promote a new job listing, promote a new sale or discount, and engage instantly with other members and business experts during national webinars – all with the click on your Connections link.
Moms In Business Magazine
Never have to search for your favorite magazine again. Gain instant access to the latest edition of Moms In Business Magazine - read about the latest offers, updates, and news in the only monthly magazine for entrepreneur, executive and CEO moms!
My Programs
Instantly Access to Moms In Business Programs - with events, free downloads, resources and tools at your fingertips. PAGE 12 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
My Community
Instantly Access to your Moms In Business Community - View the Membership Directory, your business profile webpage, your blog, other member’s blogs, the Mom’s Marketplace, Connection Forums and more -- all instantly available in one click.
Rewards
We’ve partnered with some great companies to offer special rewards exclusively for members and users of our toolbar. For each reward program you can sign up to win daily. Win everything from electronics, to books, to business services. It’s the greatest Giveaway Connection!
Oh yes and it’s completely FREE!
The Moms In Business Super Toolbar is free. There is nothing you need to purchase, no fees, just use the Moms In Business Toolbar packed with features you value.
You Raise Money for Charity Every Time You Search
Every time you search on the Moms In Business Toolbar your clicking to results from your search raises money for The International Association of Working Mothers - a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to supporting working mothers with amazing programs that make a difference. You don’t pay anything; however, the advertisers you click on do. It’s a WIN/WIN - you get great tools and your actions on the web make a powerful and positive impact for women and children.
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 13
NOW
News
Look Who’s Featured in the
$
Member avings Circle! $avings From Our Members This area of $avings is offered from our general membership to everyone. Member $avings Circle This area of $avings is viewable and accessible ONLY to members Member $avings Circle PLUS+ These discounts and programs are ONLY available to the following business-level memberships: uu MicroBusiness MomTM, uu Business Partner, uu Corporate Partner and uu National Partner
Featured Member Discounts! More Coming Soon
National Offers
Sears.com - Marketplace - Sears.com is one of the top e-commerce websites offering merchandise from Sears stores as well as from third party merchants, carrying a total assortment of over 20 MM items.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT: Sears is offering a benefit valued at $480 exclusively for members of the National Association For Moms In Business. The monthly service fee of $39.95 is waived for one full year. And there is a 10% discount on the commission. This deal is exclusively for members of Moms In Business. This membership benefit is only available to Microbusiness Mom(TM), Business and Corporate members.
Email, Social & Mobile Marketing - Try It For Free! - This is the best priced email marketing system we have ever found, and in addition, you can do social media marketing and mobile phone marketing -- all from ONE account! Members Try it FREE!
PAGE 14 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
NEWS
continued
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Free Yourself From Accounting with Outright - Say Goodbye to Accounting. Automate your small business accounting, and get back your nights & weekends. Outright automates your small-business accounting tasks by pulling all of your accounts into one place and organizing them in a smart way. No more deciphering confusing reports or weeding through data you dont care about. $2000 PR Toolkit from PRNewswire - The PR Toolkit is designed to help you understand the basics of public relations and how PR Newswire can help you cost-effectively create visibility for your small business, products or services.
This Month’s Action Item: Check Out the Progress of the NEWLY Designed Site! Check out the beginnings of the newly designed site. our site navigation of MIBN.org! We are updating our look and We’ll now have: ÎÎ Navigation that is easier to get to all of the great programs we offer. ÎÎ A brand new look. ÎÎ Eye-catching article features. ÎÎ A new “My Community” page with access to all the great online networking and social media benefits available throughout your membership in mibn.org. ÎÎ Download the toolbar
Check it out and give us your feedback! www.MIBN.org
Rewards!
To celebrate the launch of our new toolbar we have some great Rewards. For each reward program you can sign up to win DAILY. Download the toolbar to find out what great rewards are coming up from these companies:
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 15
NOW
Moms Vote Matters MomsVoteMatters.com
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
Crowd Fund Investing and the Congress Small business owners and entrepreneurs are
Karen Kerrigan
not optimistic about Washington addressing their priorities, or enacting policies that will help their firms.
In a survey of small business owners released by the
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) at the end of November 2011, fifty-six percent of respondents said that government policies have actually hurt their businesses, with 25 percent responding that government policies have “strongly hurt” their businesses. It should be no wonder, then, that business optimism and confidence continue to remain low.
In early November of last year, the U.S. House passed the “Entrepreneurs Access to Capital Act” (H.R. 2930) by a whopping 407-17. The bill, which updates Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations to allow for crowd fund investing, moved at extraordinary speed. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle realize that businesses of all types and at various stages of development are having an especially difficult time accessing capital. Allowing small business owners to tap into new sources of capital using the Internet, social media, the wisdom of the crowd and regulated platforms is a common sense solution that is being used with great success in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.
…regulations to allow
for crowd fund investing,
moved at extraordinary speed.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle realize that businesses
The current Congress has the lowest job approval rating ever recorded in the history of polling. A Rasmussen Reports survey, for example, at the end of 2011, found that only 5 percent of likely voters thought Congress was doing a “good job” – and 68 percent gave Congress “poor” marks. So, should small business owners have any hope that Washington will produce anything helpful in 2012? Perhaps.
of all types and at various stages of development are having an especially difficult
time accessing capital…
PAGE 16 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
As SBE Council member Woodie Neiss explained in congressional testimony about crowdfund investing: “Crowd fund investing stands
to be a powerful method of financing, where groups of people will come together to invest in startups and provide valuable knowledge and experience to help an entrepreneur succeed. It will provide a way for unaccredited investors to pool their individual small contributions, and invest in companies and entrepreneurs they believe in. The funding rounds will occur on Internet platforms, which provide an added level of transparency and communication between the investors and the entrepreneurs. ‘Micro-Angel Investors’ will support people and businesses they believe in and in turn, help to grow the economy.”
have been introduced in the U.S. Senate, which differ from the bipartisan House-passed legislation. Unfortunately, some of the provisions in these bills are highly restrictive (one bill limits investments to $500) and could be burdensome for small businesses in terms of registration and compliance. Therefore, SBE Council members are working with Senate staff to create a workable framework that will allow crowd fund investing platforms to flourish while addressing their concerns about the potential for fraud.
Technology
and the Internet, once
again, are opening up new opportunities for
entrepreneurs, including tapping into
SBE Council remains optimistic that legislation will move through the U.S. Senate. It would then have to go to a conference committee with the House passed bill to work out differences.
much-needed capital.
Crowd fund investing builds on the tenants of crowdfunding. In traditional crowdfunding, a group of individuals “donate” small amounts of money to an idea or cause. In crowd fund investing, individuals use small amounts of money to buy equity in a business. Individuals are motivated to invest by the desire to support an entrepreneur and her business plan, to be a part of the solution to our economic woes, and for a potential financial return. Unfortunately, outdated regulations from the 1930s prevent crowd fund investing. But with the common sense reforms enacted as part of H.R. 2930, more Americans will be able to invest in promising small businesses, which means more jobs and greater economic growth. According to H.R. 2930, only businesses that reach their funding target will be funded, entrepreneurs cannot raise more than $2 million and investors are limited on how much they can invest ($10,000). The SEC would continue to provide prudent oversight of crowd fund investing to mitigate the risk of fraud, and protect investors. President Obama offered his strong support of H.R. 2930 as it moved through the U.S. House. Currently, two bills
Technology and the Internet, once again, are opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurs, including tapping into much-needed capital. The “Entrepreneurs Access to Capital Act” makes simple and needed changes to old rules that are preventing entrepreneurs from identifying pools of capital to help support their growth needs. The U.S. House and President Obama remain enthusiastic about this approach, and it is critical that the Senate not bottle up this important bill like they have so many other pieces of legislation that will help entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit: www.sbecouncil.org, or www.startupexemption.com. **** Karen Kerrigan is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.
Visit www.MomsVoteMatters.com
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 17
NOW
EVENTS
Events
Calendar of Events
~ February 2012 ~ Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
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Sat
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-Secrets to -My Business Marketing Action plan Your Business Without Money -My Business Action Plan
-LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session)
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-Business Grant -Calendar Event Competition Training -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -Calendar Event Training -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan
-Business Grant -Calendar Event Competition Training -My Business Action Plan
-My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan
-LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session) -My Business Action Plan -My Business
-My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan
-LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session) -My Business Action Plan
-Artist Network Business Development -My Business Action Plan
-LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session)
Action Plan
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-LAS VEGAS, -MY Business NV- Business Action Plan Plan Assesment (Evening Session) -Calendar Event Training -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan
For more information go to EVENTS at www.MIBN.org
PAGE 18 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 19
Feature
Where Are They Now?
By Gina Robison-Billups
After creating, planning, working, hosting, and following through on Moms In Business Grant – the first and only crowdfunding business grant in the nation, a lot of people want to know, “Whatever happened to the grant recipient and the runner up? I procrastinated a little on contacting the participants of the 2011 Moms In Business Grant Competition. After all, what if it was terrible? What if they were out of business…or worse, what if they gave up on business ownership entirely? What would come of our theory of the “hustle factor” being a key component of a successful grant? I’m happy to announce that both women have been keeping their businesses going and strong despite some serious challenges. Both women said that being a part of the Moms In Business Grant pushed them to do things they didn’t think they could do, and they have made it through some difficult times BECAUSE of what they learned from the grant process!
How thrilling is that?! Their passion and perseverance grew stronger in the face of adversity because they had their grant experience to draw from. I’m also proud to report that unlike any other year we’ve done the grant, this is the first time that both the grand prize recipient and the runner up have been MORE successful in their business before the year’s end. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and this grant process works! If you were thinking about participating in the Moms In Business Grant last year, read these interviews and join in this year.
Tobi Kosanke
National Grand Prize Grant Recipient Project: Crazy K Farm, Texas 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. 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. Tobi is the inventor of the Kitty Holster cat harness, the highest rated harness in Cat Nip magazine based on its comfort and difficulty for cats to wiggle out of.
PAGE 20 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
So, let’s find out what’s going on with our Moms In Business Grant recipient and the runner up!
GRB: How is your business doing since the grant? TK: Many of my clients and the media know me for the Kitty Holster, and now I’m launching the doggy holster. I’m getting some interest and just received a pre-order for $3,000 in doggy holsters. My products have been featured in Catnip Magazine, the New York Times, and on CBS Sunday Morning. We also have a new website just for the kitty holster: kittyholster.com. We have also launched a boutique line with more variety of fabrics and they are now Made in the U.S.A.; however, that was the result of fast maneuvering in a time of crisis. It’s working out, but it was difficult and frustrating. Without realizing it at first, I had several incompetent employees that were literally siphoning money from the company. I should have taken the advice to hire slowly and fire quickly, unfortunately, I did the opposite. I ended last year $35k in the hole due to lawyers and also patents. Now sales are coming up, and I have $20k paid off. That’s how you know if what you’re doing is based in reality and it’s needed. Because our product is valued and necessary, it’s selling. I also got the patents on my products!
GRB: What did you learn about yourself and business in the grant process? TK: I learned faith and fortitude. That is what got me through this entire crisis to the other end. I have a passion for my product because my customers are so appreciative of it. Every week, I receive an email and pictures of how the kitty holster has saved a cat’s life or made its quality of life better. Our customers love their kitty holsters. I learned there is a lot of backwards momentum at times and it’s easy to throw in the towel. I felt like that sometimes during the grant competition, but I didn’t quit. I felt like that during this past crisis, and I didn’t quit. The grant helped me pull through the crisis. I see why businesses fail. At some point, even when you start on a shoestring budget, you need capital to grow. The grant was really helpful.
Now I have one part time independent contractor from Sweden. He’s a stay-at-home dad, and he does the work of my previous three full time employees. He does in 20 hours what the others in a full 40-hour week (for each of them!) My daughter, who is seven, has started working on the business. She has decided that she wants to run it –at least the fun parts. GRB: Would you do it again? Would you recommend other women to do it? TK: I have no regrets. It was time well spent. Having that cash made my debt in all this chaos, much less. GRB: What advice would you give other moms in business that are considering participating in the Moms In Business Grant program? TK: Know your numbers. If you don’t understand how to do them, learn or get someone to run them for you. You need to know daily, weekly, and monthly numbers. Learn to read a Profit and Loss statement, Cash flow statement and know how to budget. I don’t like to do that, and I trusted the wrong people. Cash flow is a huge issue, and you can run out of money before you know it. Balance is important. If you can afford to hire a person, give them the parts you don’t like and work the aspects you love. I had decided that I wanted to go back to work as a doctor. In order to do that, I had to hire someone to manage the house. That was actually a painful decision. A headhunter offered me my dream job. It was so clear that the company needed me. I am the only person worldwide in that company that can do what I do. Every day I go to work, I know I add value to the company. I love being in the profession, and it’s thrilling. I can only do this because I hired people to take the parts of my home and business that I don’t like doing. I am still president of my company, but now I do only the things I like to do. Hire slowly. Fire quickly. I now only work with independent contractors. He sends me a sales report every day. I have learned that everyone I work with must show me sales, reports, and product stock…whatever it is, on a daily basis. Get Used to Making Tough Decisions. Intuition is good in your personal life and in the creation of your product, but in business you need to make decisions on the hard, cold facts. Those decisions can seem cold and hard, but it’s the only way your business will survive.
Continued on page 22 Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 21
Feature
Continued from page 21
Arline Saiki
National First Runner Up Project(s): Onedersave and AEC (She had two) New York AEC - It is my personal conviction that everyone can and should have a chance at success in life. My own children have been my greatest joy and they are responsible, trustworthy, hard-working, giving, happy and successful young adults of faith. 6 years ago, when the position of Director of the Abstinence Education Council in central NY was being advertised at my church, I pondered applying for it for several weeks before I decided to try for it. It has required a ton of research, and many online and in-person classes in abstinence, behavioral science, character education and mental health. The result of my research and courses has been the slow turning of the focus of our programs from “scare” tactics to giving young people the skills and tools they need to fight our deteriorating culture. Onedersave - EcoBio-Block was developed in Japan to revitalize and purify polluted waters in rivers, canals, and the ocean over a decade ago. It is presently being used in a variety of outdoor and government projects in Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, and China. Using nature’s own system of cleaning water, EcoBio-Block clarifies cloudy water in aquariums, ponds, and in other environmental uses, with beneficial bacteria and nutrients infused in a volcanic rock which multiply and disperse regularly into surrounding waters keeping bacteria levels consistently high enough to breakdown organic waste into less toxic nitrates and keep water clear, odor-free and healthy.
Another inspiring and successful grant recipient with two amazing endeavors. GRB: Why did you start your business/organization? AS: I felt passionate about starting AEC because I think that people, in general, and women, in particular, are too trusting in the status quo. Our children are being bombarded by information from the media, corporations, the schools and even the government, which are not beneficial to them and in many cases are detrimental. We need to protect our children and our society from people who are profiting from our passivity or pushing an agenda. We need to be strong and well-informed and not let our own biases get in the way. And we need to remember that every little bit matters, that every one of us has something to contribute to make our family, our community and our country a better place. GRB: How is your business doing since the grant? AS: ONEdersave Products LLC continues to grow albeit slowly. We are now reaching the point where many of our customers are repeat (because the product works for about 2 or 3 years) and Petco online is also selling our product and has put it up on Amazon and several other places. We have just expanded from aquarium only to include the pond products. The grant was an enormous boost for the Abstinence Education Council. As a matter of fact, I just applied for another grant and I had to list our donors and it was fantastic that I had all these new donors that I could list to show our credibility. As
PAGE 22 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
you can imagine, donations are down for non-profits and I don’t think that people realize how much can and needs to be done to reduce high risk behaviors, which can cause a lifetime of misery and physical, emotional, mental, material, and spiritual problems. GRB: What did you learn about yourself and business in the grant process? AS: I really wanted to reach our goals and I don’t like asking people for money, so this was a challenge. I found that I could do a pretty decent job of encouraging people to help us. I also learned that I really need to learn how to use social networking better and/or get someone who is competent to help for both myself and my business. GRB: Would you do it again? Would you recommend other women to do it? AS: Yes, I plan on participating again. And, yes, I would definitely recommend that other women do it. GRB: What advice would you give other moms in business who is considering participating in the Moms In Business Grant program? AS: Learn how to use the social networks! Find people who are invested in your business in some way and ask them to reach out to their contacts. ****
A Proud Sp onsor of t 2012 MOM S IN BUSIN he ESS GRANT
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 23
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Giveaway Connection Powered By: Giveaway Connection The Leading Giveaway Resource Site
How To Run a Giveaway on Facebook
By Gina Robison-Billups
Everyone loves to win! Facebook will reach its 1 billionth (yes, that’s with a B) users in August 2012 These two things make running a Facebook contest a great idea!
P
eople love a good contest. But running a good contest on Facebook isn’t simple. Facebook has a lot of rules around contests that most people aren’t aware of. People often find they run a giveaway on Facebook and just before the grand prizewinner is named, they get banned because their contest didn’t comply with Facebook’s terms. The biggest rule that you need to know is that you MUST administer the contest through an Application. That means you need to run your contest on a tab on your Page rather than by having them respond to a Wall post or uploading a picture to your wall or similar-type strategies. You simply can’t run a contest from your Facebook profile. It’s just that simple. Luckily there are several companies which administer Facebook contests while following all the rules, leaving you free to market your giveaway. Here are some of the applications that administer Facebook contests: Wildfire –North Social –Votigo –Fanappz – All come highly PAGE 24 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
recommended and can start out at $50/week. The new Hooplasoft app on Facebook allows anyone to create a sweepstakes for free. The process of picking a winner is fair because they use the same random number generator used by millions and millions of software companies across the globe. You can only have one giveaway going at a time. You can disqualify entrants, an entrant is required to “Like” your Facebook page to enter, and if you are running a WordPress blog you can embed your giveaway in a post or as a widget, and it’s compliant with all Facebook promotional guidelines. It’s also integrated with Stumbler. You get to set the giveaway title, date, share link on Stumbler so it will be advertised for free with other Hooplasoft giveaways, prize description, prize value, and even upload a picture of the prize. It looks like I might be promoting Hooplasoft, but I’m not. I just really like free marketing tools (Hey, I wrote the book “No Money Marketing Tools for Small and Homebased Business”. Can you blame me?). To see all the ins and outs of the rules, take a look at the Promotions Guidelines on Facebook’s site.
Goal Plannin g
Promotional Planning
rchh a e es arc
R Rese arch e
Res
er Aftawayn e Givomotio Pr
Mar Planketing ning
Now, let’s plan that giveaway!
1. Research, Research, Research: Research companies to administer the giveaway. Research your best target audience (location specific? Gender specific?) Research the best prize for your target audience. Make it relevant and make it good. 2. Goal Planning: How many entries and/or Likers do you want? Do you want to drive them to take additional action like download a free ebook or subscribe to your newsletter? 3. Marketing Planning: How will you promote the contest? Will you have a banner on your site, a blogging, email blasts, press releases? Go to www. MIBN.org to download the FREE 30 Minute Marketing Plan (available to members only). 4. Promotional Planning: Create a Marketing Calendar to make sure you are reaching new people continually. This is the most important part. Get
the word out every day about your contest. Tweet it, put links to the contest on your Facebook Page, have a link on your website, do a blog tour, write press releases, e-mail blast it — do everything you can think of. To find creative ideas on promoting your giveaway, download “Creating More Clients Through Giveaway Marketing” at GiveawayConnection.com or take the Marketing Without Money Course for some great low-cost marketing ideas. 5. After Giveaway Promotion: Don’t let the promotion stop when the giveaway ends. Talk up the giveaway. Talk up the prize winner. Keep people interested and prime the pump for your next giveaway. **** Gina Robison-Billups is the CEO The International Association of Working Mothers founder of the National Association For Moms in Business, an author and speaker. Visit: www.MIBN.org. Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 25
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Persistence and Financial Focus were Keys to My Government Contracting Successes
I
started pursuing government contracting in 2008. This decision was a result of encouragement from a government employee who was pleased with the work of The Hester Group. At the time, I was unaware of the exciting opportunities within government contracting. Through further discussion, I began to realize the potential impact government contracting could have on my business and made the decision to pursue it wholeheartedly.
By Hester Taylor Clark
create solid relationships with mentors has been integral to my personal success and that of my company. I truly believe my successes can be yours too – be persistent and get to know your company’s finances TODAY!
In order to become a successful government contractor, it became obvious that I had to have a willingness to learn a new way of doing and a commitment to building a solid network of business contacts and trusted advisors. Most importantly, I had to remain focused and tenacious. It took more than two years of persistence to secure my first piece of government business. In addition to learning new business practices, I had to place a renewed focus on the financial aspect of running my business. I never liked working with numbers- and as a result have always been hesitant and shy about understanding and managing finances. I knew that in order to succeed in government contracting, I would have to dig in and truly understand the intricacies involved in the financial aspect of my business. After working with mentors, and other woman business programs, I have become much stronger in my understanding of business finance, projections, and managing the company-– AND I hired a terrific VP/CFO! In very short amount of time, The Hester Group has secured two major contracts one within the FDA and the other with the Navy. Today, government contracts make up 90% of the company’s revenues, and 2011 revenues are projected to increase by 175% over 2010. In addition, I received a great honor being named the 2011 Woman Government Contractor of the Year by American Express OPEN. I feel my tenacity, attention to financial detail and the ability to PAGE 26 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
Hester Taylor Clark, owner of The Hester Group and 2011 American Express OPEN Victory in Procurement Woman Government Contractor of the Year
This article and more resources and events can be found at www.B2BMoms.com.
Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 27
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What Can Saturday Morning Cartoons Teach Us About Investing? By Paul Petillo
R
emember Saturday mornings, cartoons, pajamas and a bowl of cereal. We entered into a world of animation that had rules in play we knew only existed
and often irrational behavior no longer apply. Markets are up then down and then post the worst third quarter in recent memory – and we’re not sure what that
Cartoon Law I
“Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.” We basically have two things to focus on: our future and what will happen next. We are continually being told to invest, max-out that 401(k), and do everything you can now, pain equals pleasure, which has replaced risk equals reward. That is until we chance to look down. And you know what happens next.
Cartoon Law II
“Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes suddenly.” Our retirement goals have experienced this law firsthand. Hitting the cartoon telephone pole at full speed is, as this Law II suggests, the only way to stop forward motion with any success. There is the comic slide down the pole immediately following the impact which can only mean two things: we will sit as the cartoon stars whirl around our collective heads, trying to regain our reason for moving forward. Once our heads are cleared, Law II is waiting with the next pole a little further down the road.
Cartoon Law III
there. Boomers may have forgotten those laws and have grown up thinking that was then, this is now. It all seems so otherworldly these days. As if everything that seems familiar isn’t and the laws that govern the rational –
means. Does it indicate something wicked this way comes or perhaps the end of the episode? I turned to some laws that explain the world of finance, retirement and just getting-by in a world gone wacky.
PAGE 28 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
“Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter.” If you follow the markets, any markets, no matter how much information you think you have, now matter how timely it seems to be, the person in front of you will create their own cookie-cutter hole, exit, leaving you to get ahead of the problem that no one, including you is sure is a problem. So instead of leaving by the door, they exit through a wall, evidently not a solid enough surface to allow Cartoon Law II to come into play. We are at the mercy of speculators it seems who apparently have little regard for laws of supply and demand but understand two things: your
in several places at once.” You know this one as the cloud of dust and debris brawl, to be witnessed as the candidates begin their battle for the White House. With the economy hanging in the balance or at least by their telling of the tale, the next year should provide numerous occasions of spinning and throttling as no candidate so far can pinpoint where the nation is right now and offer a plan of where we should be.
Cartoon Law VII
predictable behavior and the ability of cartoon physics to protect them.
Cartoon Law IV
“The time required for an object to fall twenty stories is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to spiral down twenty flights to attempt to capture it unbroken.” This is my favorite axiom of all. Who among us has not seen the Federal Reserve try and do this? We are watching this occur as we speak as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke races down the stairs with his latest effort in Operation Twist. Only Cartoon Law IV is a waste of time. The priceless nature of the economy, the object hurtling through global space in this instance, falls victim to the inevitable comic result: it might be too big to fail but the attempt to catch it will prove unsuccessful as well.
Cartoon Law V
“All principles of gravity are negated by fear.” I offer frenetic trading as proof that investors can spin their feet so quickly that they do not touch the ground while any news good or bad propels most of them straight up a flag pole. These days many average investors are left scratching their heads as they realize that just the sound of the unknown can change the direction of the market dramatically.
Cartoon Law VI
“As speed increases, objects can be
“Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot.” This inconsistency has played itself out to great effect in housing. The folks who stand at the helm of the economy have painted an imaginary tunnel and allowed millions of Americans to pass through but when those that needed help the most attempted to follow, the surface was once again solid. This trick surface has left many wondering why something cohesive can’t be done. Housing may never recover if recovery is gauged by where it was. Yet so many people are wondering why the supposedly smart financial people who aided and abetted in this financial crime won’t simply understand that they have an option – and it isn’t achieved by raising ATM or debit card fees.
pretty confident as a group that we will have another life to do it over again. At least we hope that this cartoon law is real.
Cartoon Law IX
“Necessity plus Will provokes spontaneous generation.” This opens the door to the “controversial pocket theory” which “suggests objects can be drawn from unseen recesses of a character’s costume, or from a storehouse immediately off-screen” or can be borrowed directly from what you will owe at some point in the future. And then, as if by magic, this future they tell us will just show up as if it “merely defers the question of how any absolutely apt object is instantaneously available”. Of course, you do need to believe in magic and if magic is the suspension of disbelief, saving will help – a lot.
Cartoon Law X
“For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite re-vengeance.” This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. The bottom line is that we are not to blame. Each time I talk to an expert on my radio show we are told is our behavior that is the reason we are in the mess we are in. Every nuance we have is examined and studied and plans for revengeance are hatched. It has become us versus them. Instead of financial Cartoon Law VIII products getting simpler and easier to “Cartoon cats have more than the understand, they ultimately become more traditional nine lives.” They become nuanced, more layered with possibilities like water snapping back to whatever and as they get less expensive, they they were prior to their mishap, even don’t become less expensive. It seems assuming the shape of the container if that all we want is to fall on the right side they happen to find themselves in one. of cartoon law. Seems that we alone know this to be true and no matter how many times the These laws were borrowed liberally economy can be “decimated, spliced, from “Elementary Education” by Mark splayed, accordion-pleated, spindled, or O’Donnell (Knopf (1985) in the hope that disassembled, it cannot be destroyed.” when you encounter these situations, you It becomes the equivalent of a cartoon may fall on the right side of cartoon law. mulligan. Someone please tell those in Washington. They think that what the **** economy needs is simple: more self- Paul Petillo is the Managing Editor regulation and perhaps a little agency for Target2025.com/BlueCollarDollar.com. consolidation, a trillion dollar cut in spending here and an entitlement cutback there. We’ve seen it before and it gives us hope. We know that after the economy Go to www.MomsMakingaMillion.com regains its shape, these setbacks (weak for financial information and tools to dollar, global slowdowns, market volatility grow your business. and commodity speculation) will prove Moms Making a Million is a program there are lessons we haven’t really of the National Association For learned and why should we have. We are Moms In Business Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 29
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A Place for Moms to Find Great Jobs A Place for Companies to Find Great Moms
Career Change
By Joanna Penn
7 Steps to a New You!
1.
Find out what you really
want to do. What are your priorities for the change? Do you want more time with family, different working conditions or more money? Do you want to change the direction of your business, or change your role in it? What do you love doing and how could you incorporate that into a new direction? Spend time asking yourself
It is now accepted that people will
have several career changes in their working lifetime. As individuals develop and grow, their aspirations and goals change, and they need new challenges. This may be a new career, or a change in direction for a small business, but the process of change is essentially the same.
these
questions
and
identify a clear goal. 2.
Plan. Sketch out the steps you need to get to your
goal so you can visualize the path. It could be a few lines to show your commitment or a multi-page business plan, but you need something concrete that lays out what you will do and when. This will help to keep you focused in a general direction, although you may change your mind about the specifics along the way. Career change can often take longer than you expect and you may also need to work out a budget. 3.
Research. Before you make any bold moves, find
out about your chosen path. Talk to people who have already taken the steps you have. Find a mentor, or pay for
PAGE 30 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
Do you want more time with family, different working conditions or more money? Do you want to change the direction of your business, or change your role in it? What do you…
continue, and also to make any changes to your plan at this stage. Remember you always have the choice to change your mind! 6.
Commitment and persistence. These
underpin the whole process, as often significant career change can take some time and it is easy to just stick with what you have. Remember why
professional advice if necessary. Research job or business opportunities in this area and make sure you understand the practicalities of what it will be like in the future state. 4.
it is important to you to achieve the change. How will you feel if you don’t make it this time? 7.
Break Out! Make the change, even if the timing is
not perfect. Celebrate how far you have come!
Retrain and develop new skills. You may need to
do some training or development to get to your new career.
****
This can be an exciting and challenging time as you learn new skills and formulate the details of your plan. This step often takes time and money, but will give you the boost you need to make the change. 5.
Joanna Penn is the author of “How to Enjoy Your Job”. Free workbook available at http://www.HowToEnjoyYourJob.com.
Try it out. Find an opportunity to try out your new
career in a low risk way. This may be as voluntary work, or working from home on your business while still in the day job. It may be changing your role in your own business for a short period of time, while people adjust to the new way. Testing the water in this way will give you the confidence to
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! Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 31
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Market Your Business Powered By: Market Your Business Without Money How do you grow your business without breaking the bank? Creativity, Ingenuity, and Resources are the answer.
f o s c i s a B e Th
By Joel Christopher
Viral Marketing
M
any people in the business of internet marketing ask: what is viral marketing?
Well, what is a virus? Dictionary.com defined it to be an infection that can transfer from one place to another easily and multiply quickly. The same concept operates on viral marketing. Viral marketing is just marketing that travels easily PAGE 32 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
and multiplies quickly, and there are lots of different ways to do it. The key point is that it is great for your marketing message because it gets that out there very quickly, and it spreads very-very rapidly, on the assumption that you do it the right way. Viral marketing is both an old and a new practice. The reason that it is new and old is because it has been around for a long time, and it used to be called “word of mouth marketing.” Viral marketing now is mainly known because somebody or
The coining of that word “viral marketing” can be attributed to Hotmail … was a free e-mail account and they wanted to get the word out, but they had a very little budget… someone actually coined the term viral marketing. The coining of that word “viral marketing” can be attributed to Hotmail. Initially, Hotmail was a free e-mail account and they wanted to get the word out, but they had a very little budget. They were not making any money. They were giving away the accounts for free, and so at the end of every message they put a little trailer on the bottom, and it basically says, “Get your free e-mail at Hotmail. Click here.” This tiny addition to all messages actually caused readers of email messages to wonder what hotmail is click on the link. They have already developed the medium. It was already going out. All they did was leverage it, and because they were giving the accounts away for free, no one could really complain about the fact that they added this thing on the bottom. So, that is one mechanism, and that is where the term comes from. These days, more sophisticated forms of viral marketing can be observed from mail accounts such as Yahoo. There are now variations to this original style that Hotmail concocted. The good thing is that as the technology and internet usage evolved, so did the style of employing viral marketing. While Hotmail’s technique used to be generic, it is already tailored to be more personalized to their target market. You can actually use something very similar to a resource box. In your e-mail, you can have a signature box at the bottom, and that is where you can put things like your name, your contact information, your USB (or QR Code) if you are branding, and your websites. Lots of people click through on it. To further monitor the prices, what some people to do is that they create tracking URLs that they put in their e-mail. With this, they can actually tell when people click on those tracking URLs at the bottom of the message. This is very
effective and it almost costs you nothing to implement. You can do it in any email account with no worries whatsoever. **** Joel Christopher (www.masterlistbuilder.com) is a bestselling author, speaker and mentor, known worldwide as The MasterListBuilder. To find out more on how you can triple your leads, sales and profits. Visit MasterListBuilder.com.
Visit www.MarketingWithoutMoney.com, a program of the National Association for Moms In Business providing marketing resources, tools and training for marketing without money. Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 33
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Where Has All The Good Marketing Gone? What You Can Learn From Top Marketers By Michael Fleischner
I don’t know about you, but I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. What do I mean “good marketing?” You know - the kind of marketing that sticks with you and drives you to take action. The only marketing that has really moved me in the last couple of years has been from Apple. How do I know? I own 3 ipods. You might be thinking to yourself that it’s more the product that drives behavior than the marketing, and when it comes to the ipod I don’t necessarily disagree. However, I would argue that in some ways the marketing has to be even better than it does with your run of the mill product.
PAGE 34 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine
It appears that this is done, not through slight of hand, but by showing you what you can’t do with your current device… So what can be learned from the tens of millions that Apple spends on advertising every year? I think the answer to that question is to work in lock step with your product development team to showcase developments and tap the emotions of those using your products. When I use my iTouch, I feel empowered, cool, and complete. I wouldn’t have reached that conclusion without the help of marketing to get me there. The lesson that I’ve learned is that marketing, if done correctly, helps us to define how we feel about a product. Once you have prospects and customers attaching emotions to your products, you develop loyal customers. The next time that you’re thinking about a marketing campaign, consider how you want your customers to feel about your product.
Apple has maintained a certain level of success with their marketing and now that marketing must not only tie together with previous marketing campaigns, but convince current customers that their current products are no longer sufficient. It appears that this is done, not through slight of hand, but by showing you what you can’t do with your current device. By illustrating this in a manner that is contradictory to your current satisfaction, it does make you feel like your ipod – which was fine until a moment ago has suddenly become inadequate. To me, that’s really good marketing.
Manage the entire purchase decision process in order to consistently manage the experience to reinforce or produce these desired feelings. Once you’ve been able to do that successfully, your creative, marketing messages and promotions should be relatively easy to produce. Now that’s what I call good marketing. **** Michael Fleischner is an author and Founder of MarketingScoop.com. If you’re looking for SEO training or wish toLearn SEO with the help of leading search engine optimization experts, then check out the leading SEO software with MarketingScoop’s SEO Elite Software Review and turbo charge your search engine optimization. ©2009 MarketingScoop.
www.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. Moms In Business Magazine • February, 2012 • PAGE 35
Wisdoms for Thought
Toddler Property Laws
1. If I like it, it’s mine. 2. If it’s in my hand, Its mine. 3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine. 4. If I had it a little while ago, It’s mine. 5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way. 6. If I am doing or building something,all the pieces are mine. 7. If it looks like mine, it is mine. 8. If I saw it first, it’s mine. 9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine. 10. If it’s broken, it’s yours.
Founder Gina Robison-Billups Editor Design/Layout Eugenia Martini-Jarrett Eugenia@MIBN.org Advertising: Debbie Donaldson Debbie@sunspark.com 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 of Working Mothers See www.MIBN.org for full copyright page All Rights Reserved
PAGE 36 • February, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine