Moms In Business Magazine, April 2012 by The National Association For Moms In Business

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Rita Rudner In Her Own Words

Wealth Management

Three Essential Steps to Build Your Wealth

Moms In Business Grant 2012 National Semi-Finalists!

Helpful Hiring Hints

Boost Your Business Revenues

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 1

PAGE 2 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 3

NOTES

From The Founder

Gina Robison-Billups; NAFMIB Founder, CEO

Something is in the Air Folks!

e are all hearing about 2012 being a year of great change. Some people think it is doomsday and are preparing for the worst. Other people are expecting a great age of enlightenment to be ushered in. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I know I’d prefer it to be the latter of the two. I have noticed this though: There have been amazing changes in my life professionally. I always used to joke that it takes ten years to become an “overnight success”. Well that is true for me right now. It’s been about ten years since the seed of NAFMIB was started and now it is coming into blossom. I personally have received a recognition or award every month since December. People are taking notice. We are getting financial and social support like never before. Our magazine is in strategy for going to print in winter of 2013, and I am making other very beneficial strategic advancements. All is aligning up perfectly! It’s so weird! It’s been ten years of struggle, struggle, struggle, and now it’s all opening up to reveal a grand and amazing vision. We still have a lot of work to do to further the vision of support, education and advocacy that is the mission of the National Association For Moms In Business, but instead of “one step forward two steps back”, we are actually moving one step forward...and one step forward again! No more “two steps back”. Of course, this couldn’t have happened without an almost maniacal amount of perseverance and a support team also crazy about the vision. When people said ten years ago to me, “I don’t get it. Why would people care about moms in business? No one sees the value in that.” those same people are now saying, “Yes! It’s great. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished.” Those people still don’t see the value in it, but now they appreciate that there is something there – even though it may be something they don’t understand. This is why moms in business ourselves must come together and support each other. If we don’t see the value in supporting and advancing each other to greatness, then who will? Have you been experiencing the same thing lately? Support, Advancement, Help? Is your dream moving farther faster? Something is in the air folks. Be brave and let it happen for you, and be persistent! I want to hear your story of the universe “opening up” for your dreams. Email them to me at Gina@mibn.org.

-Best Wishes,

Gina Robison-Billups PAGE 4 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

INSIDE

APRIL

2012

4 NOTES

from the Founder/CEO, Gina Robison-Billups

NOW 6

Moms Minutes

News

14 16

Important Tips and Briefs Updates

Moms Vote Matters

Instant Impact Legislative Update

Calendar of Events

Featured events, conferences and more

FEATURE 18

Rita Rudner

In Her Own Words

STANDOUT 22 24

Moms In Business Grant 2012 National Semi-Finalists! See Who They Are How Free Giveaways Can Boost Your Business Revenues

Offering a free give away can be a powerful and effective marketing

How To Follow Up Your News Releases And Story Pitches

Can you remember a story idea you pitched a year ago that resulted in…

27 28

Helpful Hiring Hints

One area of particular interest to everyone there had to do with Hiring…

Wealth Management - Three Essential Steps to Build Your Wealth Millions of American citizens have incurred debts and failed to build enough assets to secure their financial future.

4 Ways to Get Backlinks to Your Website for Free

Moms Turn to Social Media When Buying Electronics

Wisdoms for Thought

One of the most important things you can do to drive traffic to your website is to increase…

Two in Three Moms Read Online Reviews, Information Before Making Buying Decision…

On The Cover

Rita Rudner

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 5

NOW

Moms Minutes

Free Email and Social Marketing offered to Non Profit Organizations

money, rally for support and constantly keep in touch with donors and volunteers,” explained Shobhit Agrawal, EkoBuzz Head of Operations. “In doing so, considerable amount of time and money is spent. With Individuals and Corporate contributors are tightening their wallets. At such times, Marketing automation tools like EkoBuzz provide a great alternative. With the economic pressure, companies and non-profits are turning to less expensive and high ROI marketing channels, such as Email and Social”.

A leading provider of online marketing solutions for the small and medium sized businesses, EkoBuzz, today announced it will give non-profits free email and social marketing services.

The only application requirement is to provide the required contact information and 501(c)(3) documentation. Once approved, non-profit teams can begin enjoying the benefits of easy-to-use, on-demand EkoBuzz email and social marketing within minutes.

With an ROI of 46 times to a dollar and 4 times that of traditional marketing channels, email marketing can help any 501(C)(3) organization ramp up programs, and reach more members and supporters more often – with minimal impact on staff and budgets.

To learn more about the Free Non-profit Lifetime Program, please visit: EkoBuzz Non Profit Sign up page - http://www. ekobuzz.com/registration/non-profit.

“A non-profit, has to focus on raising

New SuperComputers Designed To Be At Least 1,000 Times Faster Than Today’s Machines

It’s definitely closer than you think — the supercomputers are almost here. A new era in computing that will see machines perform at least 1,000 times faster than today’s most powerful computers. By the end of the decade, exaFLOP computers are predicted to go online heralding a new chapter in scientific discovery. Computer scientists measure a supercomputer’s performance in FLOPS, an acronym for FLoating Point Operations per Second, while “exa” is a metric prefix which stands for quintillion (or a billion billion). An exascale computer could perform approximately as many operations per second as 50 million laptops. “It is the next frontier for high-performance computing,” says Dimitrios Nikolopoulos, professor at the School of Electronics at the UK’s Queen’s University of Belfast. Read the entire article at: www.cnn. com/2012/03/29/tech/super-computer-exaflop/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11.

TweetDeck bug gives access to other users' accounts According

to CNNMoney, Twitter’s popular TweetDeck client was taken offline a few days ago after a report of an apparent glitch allowed him to post from other users’ accounts.

Evason included a picture of his TweetDeck app, spattered with dozens of other users’ account icons, and went on to demonstrate his ability to tweet from another user’s account.

The company declined to comment further.

“Hey @TweetDeckAbug in your software has given me access to hundreds of accounts. #YouShouldLookIntoThat,” Geoff Evason tweeted Friday.

Twitter immediately took down the Web version of TweetDeck and posted the following tweet: “TweetDeck is currently down while we look into an issue. Apologies for the inconvenience.”

Another software problem is that followers are not recognized as followers, even though they are, causing much confusion. Engineers are working on correcting these flaws.

PAGE 6 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

This is just the latest bug to hit the rapidly growing social network.

Moms Minutes

Affordable Direct Mail Program for Small Businesses bringing Excellent Results At a press conference to discuss a new

marketing campaign, the Postal Service previewed television, print and marketing mail advertisements to promote Every Door Direct Mail, a simple Web-based service that helps small businesses prospect locally to new and existing customers without the need for names or addresses. The mailings can be dropped off at a local Post Office. “Every Door Direct Mail is designed for small businesses,” said Vogel. “For less than 15 cents a piece, our customers can send fliers, menus, brochures and advertisements in highly targeted ways. The Web tool is free and easy to use,

enabling restaurants, doctors’ offices and other small businesses to map their coverage areas online, so they can really zero in on the streets and neighborhoods they want to reach.” “This program allows us to deliver our valuable message with pinpoint accuracy to the exact neighborhoods we wish to target for our products and services,” said DePaola. “It provides an efficient way to achieve market coverage by focusing on the key areas where there is a need for home improvements.” http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/03/u-s-postalservice-small-businesses-growth.html.

Smart Bombs To Kill Cancer Cells Making Successful Strides GenSpera’s initial safety trial, the Phase Ib trial, will evaluate up to 18 new patients in order to refine a recommended dosing regimen and implementation for upcoming Phase II clinical studies. Phase II will target a variety of different cancers, including prostate cancer via the company’s other drugs, G-115 and G-301.

GenSpera, a leading biotech firm based in San Antonio, Texas, has recently announced the continuation of its ongoing Phase I trial of G-202, a lead chemotheraputic agent. The G-202 Phase I study was designed to evaluate its safety and tolerability at increasing doses ranging from 1.2 mg/ m2/dose up to 88 mg/m2/dose. Now, following the successful completion of

“This is a critical step in the GenSpera clinical program and is a major validation for both the thapsigargin-based prodrug platform and GenSpera,” states the company’s CEO, Craig Dionne, Ph.D. A prodrug is a drug’s inactive precursor that’s converted into an active form when it reaches its specific site. The continuing study is being conducted at multiple centers, including Wisconsin’s University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer

Center, Maryland’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. One of the key reasons why thapsigargin is so potentially game-changing is that it targets and kills cells independently of their division rate, increasing its overall effectiveness with all types of fast and slow-growing cancers, including cancer stem cells and prostate cancer. Targeting specific tumors means avoiding higher levels of toxicity that occurs to the rest of the body all while decreasing dangerous side effects. Unlike standard treatments, slowing down cancer isn’t part of GenSpera’s endgame; completely obliterating cancer is. Visit: http://genspera.com.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 7

NOW

News

BREAKING NEWS!

The 2012 Moms In Business Grant Is Under Way! Read About the National Semi-Finalists and Give Them Your Support. Page 15 MARK THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR:

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

June 2, 2012 — Nevada Women’s Money Conference, Las Vegas NV June 9, 2012 — Nevada Women’s Money Conference, Reno, NV

And Now the NEWS! Nevada Moms In Business Starts Moms In the ARTS Business Program! Being a successful artist isn’t just about being good at your craft, it’s also about being good at business. We are creating a special targeted program just for moms with the artist’s mind who want the businessperson’s pocketbook. Every artist’s dream is to be able to make a living off of being an artist. This is not an easy job, but it can be done with the right tools and right mentoring and training. Lu Torres, the Director of Nevada Moms In Business is also the CEO of the Nevada MicroBusiness Initiative, and she is a very accomplished artist. She knows how to help clients get both sides of their brain working, so you can develop a business brain and skill set to support your artistic nature. For more information about our Moms in the ARTS Business program in Nevada call 702-734-3555 and as for Lu. For those members not in Nevada, we will be delivering a Moms In the ARTS Business program near you soon, but right now, you can participate online. Just send us a Support Ticket through the Contact Us area at www.mibn.org and we will send you the program benefits. We’re just getting the webpage up now, and will have it ready in time for Mother’s Day. Be one of the first artists featured in the program! Contact us and learn how. PAGE 8 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

WE ARE LOOKING FOR JOBS!!!

We have been accredited for finding several jobs for members, but we need members to post more jobs! Here are some benefits of posting your JOB OPENINGS or CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES:

Post Unlimited Amount of Job Opportunities

http://mibn.org/site.php/msgb/view_forum/page_1/jobs_board/ in the Hiring: Moms Forums, and it will be tweeted to thousands of @momsinbusiness and @hiringmoms followers on facebook and twitter. This is a great way to reach out to potential candidates for employment or independent contractors. National Publicity for Your Jobs in the Moms In Business Magazine. We’ll print the latest job postings from members inside Moms In Business Magazine. All you have to do is post the job listing in the HIRING: Moms Jobs Board - Simple!

Several FREE Market Without Money Classes Available for Download

Do I Need a Facebook Page? Assessment Worksheet [ Free ] Here is the simple and easy way to assess whether you are ready to have a facebook page for your business. Will you follow through? Is it worth your time and effort? To be sure listen to the teleclass for some interesting information and a then take the assessment tool. Do You Need a Facebook Page? - TeleClass [ Free ] It was a very quick class - probably too quick and so much to go over! But, as we promise, we try to give you quick information that you can use right away. Download this teleconference class (sorry no video this time). Then, download the “Do I need a Facebook Page?” Assessment Worksheet. It will take less than 7 minutes (probably less than 5 minutes) to fill this out and see if a facebook page is really for you.

Easy Blogging - Get Readers IMMEDIATELY! [ Free ] This is one of our Marketing Without Money classes and it’s a benefit of being a member!

Moms In Business Grant National Semi-Finalists are Breaking Records!

An unprecedented amount of backing has been raised in the first three weeks of the Moms In Business Grant Crowdfunding Competition! The national semi-finalists are breaking records in most backing in a day, a week and in the first week! These are amazing women with outstanding projects and people are taking notice and backing their projects. These four semi-finalists have already reached the total amount of backing that the ten semi-finalists from 2011 reached after the entire six-week competition! Go to www.MomsInBusinessGrant.com to support a semi-finalist’s project. This program is more than getting cool stuff for your money. It’s more than supporting a particular business idea. The Moms In Business Grant is about helping all moms in business get more opportunities to access capital for their business. Moms In Business are continually denied lines of credit and business loans to build their business -- even if they have a great business plan and perfect credit. We just received another story of a mom in business who had over $20,000 of her own money as collateral (and a house and a long history of expertise in her new business field.) She was denied a line of credit to hire employees - by her own bank - the bank holding the $20k in cash. She finally has had to use credit cards to get the capital she needs to hire salespeople. This is ridiculous and has to stop! Moms are continually denied the money they need to grow their businesses. By backing a national Moms In Business Grant Semi-Finalist, you are doing more than just backing a great business idea; you are showing the nation that mom-owned businesses are viable and worthwhile ideas worthy of backing. Backing one mom in business - is a signal that all moms in business are valuable.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 9

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 10 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

NEWS

continued

Shoeboxed - We take the work out of paperwork, so you can focus on doing what you love. We take the work out of paperwork, so you can focus on doing what you love. “Make your life easier using Shoeboxed.” — New York Times. “An essential tool for any size business.” — TechCrunch. “Shoeboxed saves me a few hours each week and days around tax time!” We love our customers and our customers love us too!

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.

Important 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 • April, 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 • April, 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. Read more about the toolbar here.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 13

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

www.WIPP.org

This Month’s Mom’s Vote Matters is Powered by Women Impacting Public Policy

Senators Introduce New Bill to Boost WOSB Contracting Women business owners contracting with the federal government can expect to see major gains under a new bill introduced in the Senate. S. 2172, the Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Kirsten Gillibrand (DNY), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) propose to open up opportunities for women-owned businesses to win larger dollar contracts. The bill removes the dollar limits on contract awards that currently create a ceiling and prohibit contracting officers from making significant awards to capable firms. It also frees up the government to award sole source contracts to WOSBs, eliminating cumbersome steps for contracting officers’ utilization of the WOSB procurement program. Ultimately, successful women-owned businesses will be able to bid on larger federal contracts, enabling them to hire additional employees and grow their businesses. WIPP, in partnership with NAFMIB, has released an action alert, asking its members to contact their Senators and urge them to sign-on to the bill as a co-sponsor.

PAGE 14 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

House Small Business Committee Advances Significant Procurement Reform Legislation The House Small Business Committee passed unprecedented small business procurement reform legislation-major changes WIPP supports. In fact, WIPP was singled out by Committee Chairman Sam Graves (RMO) in his opening statement as one of the many organizations supportive of this legislative package. The legislation is part of a larger legislative effort by the Committee to improve the procurement process for small businesses. The Committee approved six reform bills on March 7. Later in March, the Committee held an additional markup to consider the remaining procurement reform bills. A markup is the process by which Congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend and rewrite proposed legislation. The Committee passed the following bills: HR 3850, raises the small business contracting goal from 23% to 25%; HR 3851, improves the ability of small business advocates (OSDBUs) to increase agency contract awards to small businesses; HR 3893, improves enforcement of subcontracting plans and increases small business teaming opportunities; HR 3980, requires a greater role for procurement center representatives in reviewing acquisition plans for barriers and advocating for increased use of small businesses; HR 4118, requires federal agencies to include small businesses in multiple award contracts; and HR 4121, sets aside certain contracts from $3,000 to $75,000 for small business startups. WIPP and many of its coalition partners, like NAFMIB, strongly support this effort by the House Small Committee to overhaul procurement policies that need improving or that just don’t work. We are especially delighted that changes suggested in WIPP’s testimony on subcontracting were incorporated into the legislation.

House Small Business Committee Proposes Eliminating Women Business Centers For the second year in a row, the House Small Business Committee has recommended elimination of federal funding for Women Business Centers (WBCs) in its review of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) FY13 Budget Request. The nearly 100 WBCs located nationwide provided business training, counseling, and mentoring to 135,000 women last year. A strong supporter of these centers, WIPP will advocate for continued funding of WBCs, given that the nation’s 7.8 million women owned businesses have an overall economic impact of nearly $3 trillion. It is through the Women’s Business Centers that chapters of the National Association For Moms In Business are hosted nationwide. We have decided to do this because our missions are in alignment and because the WBCs provide a valuable service to women. Contact the House Small Business Committee and urge them to keep the WBC program.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 15

NOW

Events

EVENTS

April, 2012 1

Sun

22 -LAS VEGAS, NVBusiness Plan Assessment (Evening Session)

Mon

2 -Marketing Your Business Without Money

Tue

3 -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -MY Business Action Plan 9 10 -Marketing -LAS Your Business VEGAS, NVWithout Money Business Plan Assessment (Evening Session) -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan -MY Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan 16 17 -Marketing -NEVADA Your Business -15 wk Without Money Microenterprise -LAS CourseVEGAS, NVHenderson, NV Business Plan -My Business Assessment Action Plan (Evening Session) 23 24 -Marketing -NEVADA Your Business -15 wk Without Money Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan 30 -Marketing Your Business Without Money

PAGE 16 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Wed

Thu

Fri

4 -LAS VEGAS, NVBusiness Plan Assessment (Evening Session)

5 -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan

6 7 -NATIONAL - Moms In Business Grant Coaching

12 -My Business Action Plan

13 14 -NATIONAL - Moms In Business Grant Coaching

20 21 -NATIONAL - Moms In Business Grant Coaching

26 -My Business Action Plan -Contra Costa Luncheon

27 -NATIONAL - Moms In Business Grant Coaching

Sat

28 -LAS VEGAS, NVBusiness Plan Assessment (Evening Session)

For more information go to EVENTS at www.MIBN.org

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 17

Rita Rudner

Feature By Gina Robison-Billups

By Gina Robison-Billups

In Her Own Words

PAGE 18 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

ow performing at the Venetian in Las Vegas, multiaward-winning comedienne, Rita Rudner, is now the longest-running, most-successful one person comedy show in the history of Las Vegas. Rita has been entertaining audiences for almost a decade with her trademark clever observations, sharp timing, and soft-spoken humor. Rita is the author of the best-selling “I Still Have It…I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It: Confessions of a Fiftysomething,” “Naked Beneath My Clothes,” and the novels “Tickled Pink” and “Turning The Tables.” She’s also starred in seven HBO comedy specials, her own PBS special and has written several movie scripts. Rita got her start like most moms in business – she saw a need a filled it. Here’s her story in her own words…

I noticed there weren’t too many female comedians and

I have to tell you, that’s the honest truth. It wasn’t because that was always something I wanted to do. It was just something I noticed, and after being a dancer on Broadway for ten years I thought, “Well, let’s try to do something where there’s not as much competition”. It was a lot of fun. I always tell my daughter, create something that isn’t there yet. It’s much easier than trying to get through the muddle. I haven’t found anything that’s easy is worth doing, and I’ve tried a lot of things. Comedy is not easy, but it was certainly worthwhile. You know, there are lots of challenges because I think female comedians are much more accepted now. I started 20 years ago or more, and it was more of a novelty — I think now more women are in comedy and audiences aren’t surprised if a female comedian gets on stage the way they were when I started. The great thing about doing something new is, first of all, you don’t know what you’re doing, which is good. So you don’t say to yourself, “Oh I’m going to go break new ground”. You just go, “Oh I hope I write a joke today”, and then you just keep going on. You just start with little, little, little, little; baby steps. A long time ago when I was living in Hollywood, about 15 years ago, I said I really want to do a sitcom. I had a few pilots and they were good. I realized what happens and the politics that’s involved, and the products that you have to sell at certain hours, and the show runners that have commitments, and only a half hour after the half hour, and I thought, “Oh my gosh, this is going to be impossible, and I can’t base my career on this.” That’s when my husband and decided, because I was such a success in Las Vegas whenever I performed there, to take an offer to move there

and to do my show every night. It was a great decision. I always try to change my dreams according to what’s possible, and I like doing the things I do now. I want to try to write something a bit different from the things I’ve written before. I think that’s a good goal this year. My husband, Martin Bergman, is also a writer, and he’s adapted my first novel, “Tickled Pink”, into a play. We’re doing it at the Laguna Playhouse where we have a beach house — so that’s going to be fun, it’s something new. We actually got commissioned to write a show for the BBC. We were writing and filming in London this summer, so that’s different too. I just try to keep learning and doing things that are a bit different. I also have a new Showtime special coming out this spring. It’s a movie that Martin and I did about a year and a half ago called, “Thanks”. Again, we keep having fun keeping busy. I love doing standup, and I have no plans to leave it soon. It’s always a challenge, I always want to do it, and I just want to keep making it better. People think I’m a busy person, but I’m not that busy. I have lots of time to do everything I like. I don’t have a lot of time to read anymore though. My advice to other moms in business. Two things: Every business is cutthroat. Broadway is cutthroat, being a lawyer is cutthroat, being an actress is cutthroat, music, everything is. Just get ready, get in there, and start fighting. When I started in show business there was no support and

Continued on page 22

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 19

Continued from page 21

Rita Rudner

no mentors whatsoever. My family and friends have always been very supportive. Women don’t help each other the way men do. It’s because there are fewer spots for women. So if there’s one spot, you’re not going to say, “Oh let me help you get it”, you’re going to try to get it yourself. I think trying to be different in some way is how I’ve approached my career. People would tell me that being laid back wasn’t the kind of persona I should have. I should be more aggressive, and I said, “I wouldn’t be myself”. I just think success comes from figuring out what’s different about who you are, and trying to expand on that. I believe women can be so much more — we communicate so well you know, and we communicate on a different level than men a lot of times. I always think it’s silly to say, follow your dreams, because you’ve got to look at what’s possible as well. At 17 I became a professional dancer on Broadway, however, people said that could never happen. But in my mind I knew I had been taking all kinds of dancing since I was four and I was really PAGE 20 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Feature

good, so I said - well if you’re really good maybe you can do something in it. I just always like to look at the facts, and also have some dreams sprinkled in there. But you can’t have dreams with no facts. My situation is different than many moms because we adopted our daughter late in life. Martin and I have been married for 23 years now, and our daughter is 9, so we’d been married 11 years before we even decided to try to adopt a child. We’re at a space in our lives now where yes, we’re older, but we have got a lot more time to spend with her because the frantic pace of trying to “make it” is far behind us. Please visit Rita’s website at Ritafunny.com or find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/ritarudner Rita lives in Las Vegas with “One daughter, one dog, one hamster, and one husband.”

A Proud Sp onsor of t 2012 MOM S IN BUSIN he ESS GRANT

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 21

Moms In Business Grant 2012 Competition Semi-Finalists

Abstinence Education Council M.O.M- Model, Organizer, Mentor We need YOUR story!

Abstinence Education Council. Funding for: design, editing, production and marketing of book Moms In Business Grant Competitor: Arline Saiki

Becoming a mom for the first time (many years ago!) was both an amazing and a frightening experience. My own mother was 2,000 miles away and I didn’t really have anyone to lean on for the little day-to-day crises. Mothering was supposed to be natural, but mine was mostly reactive. I bought a baby book, did the opposite of what I didn’t like in other parents and tried to emulate what I liked. Anything and everything in between was “by the seat of my pants”. Although my children turned out better than I could ever have hoped or dreamed, I don’t think that reactive mothering is the best way to parent. And as the Director of central NY’s Abstinence Education Council, I want to help mothers find a better way. It is the awesome and amazing right and responsibility of parents to raise our future adults. Children who are successful and healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually), will make for a healthy, successful community and a healthy, successful country.

ArtNest ArtNest - a new way to support and promote the Arts Moms In Business Grant Competitor: Tara Coles

I believe in the power of creativity and in the ability to recreate and reinvent your life. As a mom of 4 young children I want them to be surrounded by art, color, nature, and imagination. It is a constant crusade to provide alternatives to the pop and tabloid culture that bombard them (and us). Art and artistic expression have always provided me with comfort - they stimulate conversation and individuality, promote mindfulness and meditation. ArtNest is an expression of my desire to spread the love of original art, to promote support for emerging artists, and to provide unique opportunities for art and culture in local communities. It also provides a platform to make art and the art world more accessible, transparent, and connected to the everyday.

PAGE 22 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Lesedi Books Lesedi Books: African Life Picture Books for Kids Moms In Business Grant Competitor: Mpho Begin

Lesedi Books is a series of picture books created to educate children on the positive aspects of growing up in Africa. This project is for the first two books in the series: My Village and Lesedi’s Favorite Game. I’ve written the books and am working on the illustrations with Rob Owen, an illustrator from South Africa. The books follow Lesedi, a ten-year-old girl who lives in a rural village in Botswana. Like Lesedi, I was born and raised in a small village in Botswana. Each book covers a specific topic about living in the village as seen through the eyes of Lesedi. The books are geared toward children between 7 - 12 years old. A couple of questions I am frequently asked since I moved from Botswana are, ‘Did you see lions and elephants everyday?’ and ‘Did you live in the jungle?’ Most children’s view of Africa is limited to…

Sweet Sienna’s Sweet Sienna's

Moms In Business Grant Competitor: Cynthia Schaefer

Sweet Sienna’s are a rich and decadent, guilt free “mini” dessert treat (sort of). I was trying to come up with a great name for a dessert business, and I kept thinking of my sweet chocolate labby named Sienna that I had for 13 years (and who has now gone to the eternal rainbow), hence the name Sweet Sienna’s. The rich and decadent yummies are a treat to your tummy and fairly simple and easy to make (just time consuming), as any new business/project always is...as you have to think of what is the core of the business and what you think your client base will enjoy the most. I have only recently begun this venture and am constantly improving on my yummy edibles as far as taste, presentation, and marketing is concerned.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 23

STANDOUT

Giveaway Connection Powered By: Giveaway Connection The Leading Giveaway Resource Site

How Free Giveaways Can Boost Your Business Revenues

By David Frey

Offering a free giveaway can be a powerful and effective marketing strategy. Learn how YOU can take advantage of this great business-builder! Offering free giveaways to prospects and customers is a powerful business building strategy that can result in a flood of new and repeat customers. It may seem counterintuitive to give away your products and services to build your business; however, people can’t resist the lure of receiving something for free. The word free, as worn out as it may seem, is still the most powerful word in marketing and has a hypnotic effect on people.

Why Free Giveaways Work The reason free giveaways work so well is two-fold. First, prospects that test your product or service risk-free might recognize its value and continue purchasing what you offer. Or even better, your prospect will get “hooked” on your product or service and won’t be able to live without it. Second, because your product or service was given to your prospects as a free gift, they will feel psychological pressure to return the favor by continuing to purchase from you. This principle is called the “Law of Reciprocity,” which simply states that people naturally feel an obligation to return favors as a way of expressing their thanks. The Law of Reciprocity works! The Hare Krishnas raised millions of dollars in the late sixties and early seventies using PAGE 24 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

this principle. In airports, the Krishnas would give away small wooden umbrellas as a free gift and would in turn, ask for a donation. After the donor would give their donation, they would toss the little umbrella into the first trashcan they passed. The Krishna would then pick the umbrella out of the trashcan and turn right around and give it to the next person. It worked like a charm.

Know Your Total Customer Value Before Giving Freebies The key to safely offering free giveaways is to know your “total customer value” (also called “lifetime customer value”): the profit you will receive from your customer over the total length of your relationship. This figure includes not only direct business, but also the value of any referrals. For instance, suppose you own a dry cleaning business with an average “total customer value” of $1,250. How much money would you be willing to invest in free giveaways to acquire a new customer? $50? $100? $200? The answer is * yes * to all of the above. Why wouldn’t you invest $100 to gain $1,250 in profits? Coincidentally, this is why most small business owners are nervous about offering free giveaways. They don’t understand the principle of “total customer value.”

Information The Ultimate Free Giveaway

Case Study # 2 - Health Club A health club has saved a fortune on conventional advertising costs by having health food stores and sports shoe retailers give six-week free trial membership away to their customers as a special gift. The majority turned into paying members at over $500 per membership. Case Study # 3 - Optometrist An optometrist mailed a postcard to prospects offering free eye exams including four different types of eye tests (dry eye test, glaucoma test, visual acuity test, cataract test) to patients they hadn’t seen in two years. The optometrist grossed an extra $10,000 in two days and the phone rang off the hook, non-stop. Case Study # 4 - Oil and Lube An oil and lube center offered a free tire rotation, oil change, and fuel injection service. However, the customer was only allowed to take advantage of one of these services per visit. The free Continued on page 33

Ideally, it’s best to offer free giveaways that are low cost but have a high-perceived value to the recipient. Information is a great example. This is why it’s smart for small businesses to use special reports containing “insider” information as a free giveaway for new customer lead generation. Your special report could be a written document, an audiocassette, or a video on a subject of great interest to your target market. Videos especially have a high-perceived value. A valuable reference guide that I use often is “Spencer’s Guide To Special Interest Videos,” which has over 13,000 hard-tofind videos. Giving away free informational videos can turn a mediocre offer into a valuable and compelling offer.

Free Giveaway Case Studies There are a myriad of ways to offer a free giveaway and many effective types of giveaways (other than information) that small businesses can use to attract new and inactive customers. Here, several small businesses demonstrate how they use free giveaways to build their businesses: Case Study # 1 - Mobile Video For Hire Van The owner of a mobile video for hire service wrote a letter offering the use of a free rental van for four weeks. Why four weeks? To get people into a habit of using his service. The result? 19.6% redemption rate-and 65% of them went on to become regular customers.

Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 25

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B2B Moms

Bringing Business Buyers 2gether with Business Moms: Building Relationships 2 Build Your Business

Follow Up

By Joan Stewart

How To Your News Releases And Story Pitches Can you remember a story idea you pitched a year ago that resulted in no news coverage of any kind? If so, how quickly could you respond if a reporter called you today wanting to cover the story? Would you start groping for words, or asking stupid questions like "Who did you say you wanted to interview?" Or would you be ready, on a second's notice? Sound ludicrous? Well, it happened to publicist Jill Lublin, who knew how to handle it, and it can happen to you, too. A few years ago, Jill pitched an idea about one of her clients, a professional speaker, to Meeting Planner magazine. Despite several follow-ups, she never got a response. "Then one year later--count 'em--365 days later, I got a call and this reporter said, 'Yes, we want to do the story, and by the way, tomorrow. Are you ready?' And of course the answer is yes, you're always ready when the media calls.” That's valuable advice regarding follow-ups. Never assume a story pitch is dead. Jill, co-author of the book “Guerrilla Publicity,” also says: • When following up, remember The Rule of 7. That means you should follow up seven times, using a combination of phone calls and emails, before you stop contacting journalists. But always be ready in case they call you. • Never follow announcing things won, or they'll view spent following up

up on routine news releases like promotions or awards you've you as a pest. Your efforts are better on larger stories you have pitched.

• When following up, concentrate on benefits. Explain how the idea you are pitching is the solution to a problem--and do it quickly, in fewer than 30 seconds. • When you call or email, don't say, "Did you get my press release?" or "I'm following up on a call I made two

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weeks ago." Jill says: "I typically will say, 'I sent you some information.' That’s my code word for press release. What I have found when talking to the media is they hate when you call them up and say, 'Did you get the press release?' What they love is for you to talk about the information in terms of how it can be readily used by them, and why they would care. Really. That’s the bottom line. Why would they care? • When following up, never, ever ask a reporter to alert you when the story is printed, or to send you a certain number of copies of the story. It’s your job to monitor the publications, then call the circulation department and order however copies you want. Expect to pay for them.

Joan Stewart is a speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in developing and maintaining good relations with the print and broadcast media. Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," a free ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Copyright© 2006, Joan Stewart. All rights reserved. For information about Joan, contact FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email Susie@FrogPond.com; http://www.FrogPond.com

This article and more resources and events can be found at www.B2BMoms.com.

Hiring: Moms

A Place for Moms to Find Great Jobs A Place for Companies to Find Great Moms

By Robert (Bob) Cannon

Helpful Hiring Hints

These hints are also vital for all job seekers to include into their thought process when preparing for an interview.

t a recent industry meeting, one of the speakers focused on Human Resource Issues. One area of particular interest to everyone there had to do with Hiring. Virtually everyone in attendance had made a bad hiring decision at one time or another and fully knew the high cost of a bad hire. The speaker advised that it had been his experience that most executives spend too little time preparing for interviews with perspective employees. He went on to say that most executives utilize the same questions for every interview, regardless of the position. He believes that the above practices in part explain the poor hiring results. In the past, I would have agreed with the speaker, but over the years, I have learned a couple of techniques that have helped me improve my results. Hopefully, you will find these to be as helpful to you as they have been to me. Hint #1. Prior to contacting the first candidate, perform a 360? interview with everyone who will interact with this position. Ask everyone to provide as many responses as possible to the open ended statement, “Our organization needs a person who…” Once you have collected this information place them all on a list and ask each person to pick those 12 responses that are most important for the person who will hold this position. Once you have narrowed the choices to the top 12, you then have a road map for what it will take to be successful in this position. Hint #2. Take the list from above and preface it with the statement, “I am a person who…” and ask each candidate look at the original list and pick those 12 responses where they feel they are strongest. Even better is to ask the candidate to have several associates check 12 items that best describe them and mail that information directly to you. The closer you can match the candidate to your needs, the greater the likelihood of success. Hint #3. All too often candidates may know how something should be done, but don’t always utilize what they know. Rather than asking hypothetical questions, ask questions where you expect the candidate to give you examples from their experience. The following are some examples for your consideration. 1. Tell us about a time when you were successful as a leader and what that was like. 2. Now tell us about a time when you weren’t successful and what you learned from the experience.

3. Give us examples of how you challenge and inspire people to take up a cause. It might be staff, outside services or even at home. 4. Give us examples of how your listening skills and delegation have come into play in your style of leadership. 5. When did you go into a situation with a preconceived notion and came out the other end with a different answer. 6. Cite examples of your leadership role in a crisis. 7. Describe a couple of significant times when you were effective in dealing with conflict. 8. Intersperse questions asking the candidate to give you examples of how they demonstrated their strength in each of the 12 areas of greatest importance as determined by your 360? exercise. Hiring the right candidate for the position is just like any other decision. The better you can define the desired outcome, the easier it will be for you and your team to find the best candidate to help you achieve the desired outcome.

Bob Cannon helps visionary leaders enhance performance and profitability in their organizations. Check out other interesting articles available in the Taking Aim newsletter available at www. cannonadvantage.com . Bob can be reached at (216) 408-9495 or mailto: aim@cannonadvantage.com. (c) Copyright Bob Cannon/ The Cannon Advantage, 2007. All rights reserved. Looking for a great job? Looking for great people? If you are, then participate in the (beta) HiringMoms.com program from the National Association For Moms In Business. Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 27

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Moms Making A Million

Helping One Million Moms Creat a Path To One Million Dollars in Personal Net Worth One Million Dreams, One Million Moms, One Million Dollars

Wealth Management

By Myrina Stein

Three Essential Steps to Build Your Wealth Millions of American citizens have incurred debts and failed to build enough assets to secure their financial future. This downturn financial situation will make it difficult to give shape to your dreams and become a wealthy person despite your hard work. The following are some crucial steps that will help you to recover from financial crisis to build your wealth. 1. A proper financial education can pave the path for a smooth journey from debt to wealth building. Once you review your financial situation and understand the reason for you not achieving your goal, then you can resolve your problem with the help of this financial education. Start making small investments and use debt leverage to increase your returns. Broadening your investment options will help you with passive income. These are the few basic concepts that you need to master with the help of financial education. You need to modify your mode of expenditure and investment according to your changing financial situation.

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You might require time to adapt to the new change where you need to understand saving and investment is more important than your short term pleasures. But this is only possible through proper financial awareness. You cannot change your mind set with the wave of the wand. To accomplish this Herculean task, you need to be dedicated towards your financial planning.

2. Curb your expenses so that you can pay off the debts without taking out a new loan. Your priority task will be to lower your monthly expenses so that you can save more cash without splurging on unnecessary things. Creating a budget can help you to stay within your means. Planning a budget is not a difficult task; you just need to be patient and organized. Maintain a spread sheet and make two individual columns. Keep the left side of the column for your income where you list all your consistent sources of income. The other column on the right hand side is for your expenses. Under the heading ‘expenses’, list all the things which contribute to your expenses. Try to review your budget plan extensively so that you can understand where your money is actually flowing out. Restrain yourself from over expenditure and if you are unable to manage your expenses, then restructure your budget plan according to the present financial situation. Once you start reducing your expenses, you can see a positive cash flow. Avoid going out for lavish dinner or spend a fortune over a luxurious vacation. Even the small expenses like late night movies and meeting friends over coffee can cost you a considerable amount. Rather, arrange a small get together at home and organize a budget friendly dinner. This will help you to remain within your means as well as get out from the life of isolation. If you are crushed under the burden of debt, then you can opt for snowball strategy. Start paying from the lowest to and gradually move towards the highest debt amount. Try to build momentum each time you pay off a debt in an ascending order. In this way, you can wipe out your financial woes.

3. Once you have paid off your debts, start investing your hard earned cash for future profit. Depositing in the bank will not be very beneficial, rather look for investment options that will help you with passive income. Evaluate your investment options. Investing in assets can give you profitable income. As the investment plans are long term goals, ensure that you hold on to your strategies for capital gains. You can get investment plans at a lower price and sell it when the market rises at a higher price. Sell your assets so that it can fetch you fruitful results. These are the 3 important ways to build your wealth and if you follow the last two steps diligently, then you can avoid incurring financial burden and get freedom from debt.

Myrina Stein is a regular writer for various finance related Communities including Oak View Law Group (http://www.ovlg. com) and CDFA. She is a Post Graduate degree holder in Finance from a reputed University in California and right now working in a Finance Consultancy as a Project Manager. She is well equipped to write articles on debt consolidation, debt settlement, bankruptcy, credit problems etc. Visit: http://wealth-management. bestmanagementarticles.com/a-43596-essential-three-steps-tobuild-your-wealth.aspx.

Go to www.MomsMakingaMillion.com for financial information and tools to grow your business. Moms Making a Million is a program of the National Association For Moms In Business Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 29

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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.

By Elizabeth McGee

Ways to Get Backlinks to Your Website for Free

ne of the most important things you can do to drive traffic to your website is to increase your website’s backlinks. A backlink is a link from another website that leads back to your website. The more of these backlinks you have pointing to your site, the better you will rank in the search engines. The better your site ranks in the search engines the more traffic your site will get, which ultimately means more sales. The following article discusses some of the more popular yet free methods for ensuring you get backlinks to your website while also helping you get more of the traffic and sales you deserve.

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Guest Blogging Consider becoming a guest blogger. Serious bloggers are busy people so they love it when they can find others that will provide guest content on their blog. It saves them time but it also gives you a chance to gain a backlink and gain some exposure. Start by finding blogs that relate your site’s topic. Then politely suggest to the blog owner that you have unique content that you think will be of value for their readers. Most blog owners will be happy to accept a guest post. Just make sure that the blog owner will allow you to include a link back to your website. Some may even post your picture. Most bloggers won’t have a problem with posting a link back to

your site but it’s a good idea to make sure first before making the commitment to write for them.

Join Forums Forums are a fun way for online marketers to get to know each other and at the same time learn new tips and tricks to run their businesses more profitably. Most forums will allow you to create a signature link. In that link, you can put your name as well as a link to your website. That way every time you post a comment or question on the forum, you create a backlink to your site. The more you participate, the more backlinks you will generate. Also when someone values what you say they will generally click on your site’s link to find out more, either about you or your website. It’s an excellent way to generate both backlinks to your site as well as generate interest among other forum members.

Write and Submit Articles

Submitting articles to article directories is ideal for building backlinks. Writing just one article a week and submitting it to prominent article directories will generate links to your site fast. That’s because article directories allow you to publish a resource box with your article which will include a text link to your website. Additionally, if the articles you post to the directories are interesting and worthwhile, then other website owners will find it beneficial to publish your articles on their websites generating even more backlinks for you. The more articles you post to article directories, the more backlinks you will generate.

Use Social Media When you create a blog post or content on your website, try providing social media options for those who read and enjoy your content. Provide icons for Twitter, Facebook, Digg and others so that readers might bookmark your content to those sites. Again, each time this is done there’s another backlink generated for you. As you look for ways to get backlinks to your website you may find that some methods work better than others. Start out by trying them all and then focus on those that work the best for you. But regardless of the methods you use, if you keep up a regular routine of generating backlinks to your site you’ll not only gain top search engine rankings, you will also continue to hold top rankings.

About Elizabeth McGee: For Internet Home Business ideas, resources and personal guidance for starting and promoting your business, Elizabeth McGee invites you to visit her Internet Home Business website and start building your financial future on the web. Article printed from LadyPens: http://www.ladypens.com.

Visit www.MarketWithoutMoney.com, providing marketing resources, tools and training that keeps more money in your wallet while still getting great results. Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 31

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Marketing2Moms

The #1 Resource and Information Center for Marketing to Moms

Moms Turn to Social Medial When Buying Electronics

wo in Three Moms Read Online Reviews, Information Before Making Buying Decision.

“As the main purchase decision makers in the home, women with children represent a crucial demographic for marketers,” said Ben Arnold, senior research analyst, CEA. “To make more informed decisions, many moms turn to social media sites including blogs, message boards and product fan pages to research products and get first-hand product reviews and recommendations.” As detailed in CEA’s research brief, Moms and Social Media: Influencing CE Purchases, 64 percent of moms have read information posted about consumer electronics (CE) products and retailers. Among these moms, nearly two in three purchased a CE device as a result, and 51 percent recommended friends or family make a purchase. Comparatively, just 43 percent of all online adults have recommended that someone they know buy a CE product after reading information online about it. Online conversations have the power to deter purchases as well, as 51 percent of moms reading information about technology products online have actually decided against purchase of a particular CE product based on what they read. Nearly four in ten recommended others not make a purchase based on what they had read. “Online moms are a particularly important consumer segment as they are both active on social media sites and possess substantial buying power and influence,” said Arnold. “As social media continues to evolve, it is essential for companies to embrace brand evangelists to further extend the reach of their marketing initiatives.” According to the study, one in three moms have posted reviews, opinions or experiences about electronics products and retailers in the past 12 months, compared to just a quarter of all women online.

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Moms who post information online about CE tend to be affluent and interested in technology. Half are early adopters, and one in three has a household income of $75,000 or more. U.S. moms spend an average of $822 on CE products each year and account for more than half of their household’s total CE spending.

Study by : The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $170 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.

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.

Continued from page 25

How Free Giveaways Can Boost Your Business Revenues service giveaways resulted in significant up sells on each visit and the opportunity to capture the customer’s personal and automobile information for future offers. Case Study # 5 - Hair Styling Salon A hair styling salon offered a free children’s haircut with every visit. Most of the customers brought an average of two to three of their children to get their hair cut, doubling the salon’s weekly sales figures. Case Study # 6 - Chiropractor A chiropractor offered a free back massage gift certificate for Valentine’s Day with a free new patient exam including an x-ray, neurological and orthopedic exam. To make this offer super successful, he went around to local businesses and gave several gift certificates to the local owners and managers to give to their employees as a free gift. Case Study # 7 - Dentist A local dentist offered a free teeth whitening with a comprehensive new patient exam, including x-rays. To make this particular offer a winner, the dentist sent participating customers several coupons for their friends. To boost response, he coded each coupon-and offered three free whitening sessions to the customer that sent in the most referrals. Case Study # 8 - Carpet Cleaner A carpet cleaner offered to steam clean two rooms absolutely free. No strings attached. Once the cleaner was in the home he checked for stains on the floor, rugs that needed stretching, holes or weak spots in the rug; he even performed an air duct inspection. He averaged $60 - $80 dollars worth of services sold per free cleaning. Case Study # 9 - House Cleaning A house cleaning service offered to do a full house cleaning free in the month of December. They called it, “Santa’s Gift to Mommy.” They were immediately deluged with requests. Once “Mommy” saw what they could do to their home and how good she felt with a clean house, 38% of them signed up for the regular service. The biggest problem the house cleaning business owner had over the next 12 months was finding people to do a good job of cleaning.

Justify Any Deal That’s “Too Good To Be True” If your offer that includes free giveaways appears “too good to be true,” it could decrease its believability and your credibility. To avoid this always explain how you can offer such a great deal. It might be that you goofed and are now overstocked, you got a great deal from your supplier, or you just want to say thank you in a meaningful way. Whatever the case may be, give a reason. It doesn’t even have to be a good reason; it just needs to be believable. Remember, your prospect is very skeptical and has good reason to be. We’ve all been duped at one point in time by a “too good to be true” scam. Furnishing your prospects with the reason why you can offer them such a good deal helps them to logically reconcile your offer in their minds. In turn, this will give your prospect the comfort level needed to act on your offer. Conclusion: Using free giveaways is an effective marketing strategy if used correctly. Think about what you can offer freeof-charge that your prospects would consider valuable and that you can obtain cheaply. Don’t forget to compute your total customer value so you know how much you are able to invest in attracting a new customer. Lastly, make sure you justify any offers that are just too good to be true.

Case Study # 10 - Vacuum Cleaner Retailer (I included this case study because David Oreck is such a fantastic direct marketer.) David Oreck, chairman of Oreck Vacuums, gives away a free Cordless Speed Iron just for taking the “Oreck XL Challenge” and trying out his 8-pound vacuum cleaner. Even if you don’t buy the Oreck XL vacuum cleaner you get to keep the Cordless Speed Iron! And if you end up purchasing the Oreck XL vacuum cleaner, you also get his Oreck Super Compact hand-held vacuum. Now here’s a guy who knows what “total customer value” is all about!

David Frey is the senior editor of the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter, a free weekly newsletter featuring small business marketing best practices. http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com.

The Leading Giveaway Resource site: www.GiveawayConnection.com. Tons of Tools and Benefits Moms In Business Magazine • April, 2012 • PAGE 33

Wisdoms for Thought

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 2012, © International Association of Working Mothers See www.MIBN.org for full copyright page All Rights Reserved

PAGE 34 • April, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine