Business Mum's Journal Edition 7: Jacqueline

Page 1

the

Business

MUM’S JOURNAL www.businessmumsjournal.com

FREE!

6

OF THE BEST

Central Edition

Supported by mothercare

Issue No.007

JACQUELINE GOLD INTERVIEW! The Ann Summers Millionaire mum gives us an insight into her life.

“Hand-made by mums”

SECRETS To promoting your own Business

FEATURE Melinda Holohan; An inspirational 1business mum

HOW-TO Blogging for business success

FEATURE Saira Khan; from Apprentice to mumpreneur 1


2

2


Editor: Jane Hopkins Advertising & Editorial: admin@mumsclub.co.uk Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither the publisher nor its editorial contributors can accept, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause. Neither the editor, nor The Business Mum’s Journal officially endorses any advertising material included within this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior permission of the publisher.

Hello and Welcome! Well the summer is now just a distant memory and we’re all into the new school year and looking forward. This issue is a little different to past issues, as well as our celebrity mums interviews; thank you to the super successful Jacqueline Gold of Ann Summers, we also have a selection of speakers from the Business and Baby Show who have supplied condensed versions of their seminars. So if you missed the show, you’ll have some great tips here, and if you did attended we’ve saved you a lot of note taking! The Business and Baby Show was the headline event for National Business Mum Week 2011. This time of year is when many women start looking for options; perhaps the children have just started school full time and mum finds herself with more time on her hands or with Christmas approaching she’s looking to earn some extra cash. These are reasons why we announced that the beginning of October would be home to National Business Mum Week. It’s a week where mums from all over the country can organise events, small or big from the Business and Baby Show in the Midlands to recruitment fairs in Cambridge and Dorset and a Business Mum’s Conference in Brighton. It’s a great opportunity to raise the profile of mum owned businesses on a local basis, and get local media interest as well as connect even more local mums. I hope you made it to at least one of the events this year, but if not keep it in mind for next year when the kids go back... In the meantime please do join our mailing list to keep up to date with ‘mumpreneur’ activities in the UK. The Business Mum Awards will be coming up very soon! We’ll have Christmas between now and the next issue so have a great one and keep in touch with all of us at mumsclub; via the forums, on twitter and facebook! Take care, wishing you every business success Jane

3

CONTENTS

Jane Hopkins, founder of the mumsclub group: www.mumsclub.co.uk www.businessandbabyshow.com www.businessmumawards.com www.businessmumsjournal.com @mumsclub and www.facebook.com/mumsclub

06-07. Interview: Jacqueline Gold;

CEO of Ann Summers. 10-11. Six of the best...

Hand made by mum 12-13. Mum’s Business case study:

Melinda Holohan

16-17. My Story: Saira Khan, from

Apprentice to mumpreneur 22-23. How to:

Blogging for business success 24-25. How to:

Secrets to promoting your own business

3


Business Directory

Business Directory

HR Advice & Support Do you have one or more employees? Thinking about recruiting?

STOP! Let us take the headache & stress away and support you. - Contracts of employment - HR policies and procedures - Staff handbook - Payroll - Writing letters

and the list goes on‌

www.001inspiration.co.uk or call 021 771 1191

Business Directory 4

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

4


Business Directory Business Directory

Business Directory

5

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

5


Cover Feature: Jacqueline Gold

As far as mums in business goes, Jacqueline Gold is one of the originals. She’s a super successful business woman, a mum, a wife, a sister a daughter and do you know what? Nothing, not even the cheekiest of products seems to faze her. Jacqueline took time out of her incredibly busy schedule to give us an insight into her fascinating life... You’re an extremely successful working mum - if you had to attribute your success to one single ‘secret’ what would that be? Being super organised! All working mums know that there is so much to get done every day so I am really strict with my time to make sure that everything I want to achieve as a mum and a CEO can be achieved. I am very lucky as I have a great team around me who enable this to happen. You were a successful businesswoman before you became a mum - how has parenthood changed the way you work?

6

My multi tasking skills have become even more finely tuned than they were before. I have also had to make sure that every week I am dedicating a good amount of quality time to my daughter Scarlett. I like to be there every morning when she wakes up and home in time to put her to bed, we also have every Friday together and of course every weekend. Of course there are weeks when this can’t always happen, however I am very protective on this time and will only compromise it if I have to. For me it’s all about priorities and being clear to yourself about what these are.

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

Have you ever wanted to give up your career to become a full-time stay-at-home mum? I love my daughter more than anything in the world, but my career is very important to me. It’s of course a huge juggling act but I feel comfortable that I can be both a mum and a CEO and do both jobs well. My career has always been such a big part of who I am and I hope that when Scarlett is older she will respect me for continuing to work and see the benefits of and be proud of having a mum who works. All working mums have to balance the needs of their family with those

6


Cover Feature: Jacqueline Gold of their career - in what ways do you struggle with that delicate juggling act, and what are your tips for keeping all the balls in the air? As mentioned above being organised and making sure that every week you set aside set times to ensure you get that regular quality time with your child. What does a relaxed day off with your family look like for you? We always try and go out and about with Scarlett so this summer we have spent time at Peppa Pig World, numerous parks, farms and of course the occasional visit to West Ham!

The reality is that with the pressures of being CEO and Dan working in the city we need childcare. We are lucky that Dan’s mother is around to support us, however she cannot do this full time and so we knew we had to employ another nanny. It was of course hard to trust our new nanny initially, however Scarlett adores her and I am delighted with the care she gives to her.

... And are there any cons? There is never quite enough time in the day! Your first book, A woman’s courage’ portrayed your incredible story. You mentioned to me recently that you now have enough content for a new book, could you possibly give us a snippet of what a new book may contain?

I wouldn’t want my experience to put I would love to write another book women off of employing a nanny, it’s and I can imagine that it would focus very much on career women and a reality that to make things work supporting and sharing advice with then a nanny is for a lot of people them. I would hope that a big focus necessary and of huge benefit. My of the book would be on working advice would be to make sure that You’ve had more than your fair share you go to a reputable agency, check mums. of heartache throughout your own lots of references and talk to the Massive thanks to Jacqueline life, could you tell us how this has families that have previously worked for giving us her time. You had a positive effect on your own with the nanny you are interested in. family life? can follow Jacqueline on What’s the biggest 'pro' It has made me value family even Twitter - take a look on of being a successful, more. I am very lucky to have a Wednesdays to see powerful working mum? brilliant relationship with my father what her #wow award and sister Vanessa. This strong family The satisfaction of seeing network has always been a huge my business continue to is all about! support to me and my husband Dan be successful and being @Jacqueline_Gold and I want Scarlett to feel that same able to balance this with security. We don’t have a huge seeing my daughter grow. family but we are a very close family and Scarlett loves seeing her cousins and the close family friends we have. Scarlett and Dan are so important to -If you are looking to set up your own business, research your me and the time we spend together potential customer base and make sure there is a demand for your as a family is extremely special.

Jacqueline’s top tips!

Having trust in those who work for us, especially where childcare is concerned is paramount importance, so when your daughter’s nanny was jailed for spiking your soup with windscreen wash - did that experience put you off trusting the care of your child to someone else so you could continue to work? How did you move forward from that? When all of this happened I did start to question my own judgement. You think you know someone and trust them with the most precious thing in your life yet they abuse this trust.

7

business idea.

-Whether you are running your own business or working for someone else, never stop listening to your customer. They will give you the best insight in to your business and will help you to deliver growth. -Don’t doubt yourself. So many women don’t realise just how powerful they are. -Have the confidence in yourself and your abilities to make it happen. -Make time for the things that are important to you. If you are strict with your diary and time then you can make it all work. -Don’t ever lose the passion for your career / business.

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

7


Business Directory

Business Directory

We LOVE advising female entrepreneurs! We are entrepreneurs ourselves and understand the joys & challenges of setting up on your own. We cater for all budgets-from ‘oven ready’ business terms to tailor made contracts.

Caroline Face 07966 510202 www.pamperedchef.biz/carolineface

Don’t know where to start? Sign up for our free business health check at

www.offtoseemylawyer.com

Nicky Kinch

Call 020 8946 233 or e-mail: info@offtoseemylawyer.com

07702 601160 www.pamperedchef.biz/nickykinch

Off to see my lawyer’ is the registered trademark and trading name of Trading Terms Ltd. Registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority No.512601.

Business Directory 8

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

8


Business Directory

Business Directory

Urgently need an extra pair of hands?

We are at your service!

Based in Solihull, FEED MY FISH is all about taking the stress away from your unexpected problems or emergencies, leaving you to get on with the important things you have to do... We will...Take the kids to school or collect them (we are CRB checked) - Walk the dog Wait in for a delivery/the plumber/the electrician - Fetch the shopping Collect your dry cleaning - or Feed the fish!

www.feed-my-fish.com Feed My Fish Ltd is registered in England 7711310

9

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

Business Directory

Anything else? Call us and see! 0790 645 0732 A flat call out fee of £25 will buy you an hour of our time and 10 miles of travel between 7am—7pm Monday to Friday. Help can be provided outside these hours, subject to availability, but higher fees will apply. If you need longer than an hour or more than 10 miles, additional fees will apply. Refer to our website for further information:

9


6

of the best...

As ever, we have scoured the mumpreneur network for six of the best products or services, so you don’t have to. This issue, we have six of the best simply called…

Hand made by mum... Knot Just Jigs Toniann is a busy mum of 4 who runs a traditional toys business and incorporates her love of craft within this by making and selling personalised party bags, cushions and bunting and all variety of pretties but her biggest inspiration (and best seller) of 2011 has been her owl cushions, each individual and unique and can be made in any variety of fabrics to match room décor. Prices of the owls start at a very affordable £12.99. www.knotjustjigs.co.uk

Chloe’s Mummy Personalised photo board books are handmade by me – Chloe’s Mummy! Each one is unique and tells the everyday story of a baby or child with all their favourite characters, that is their friends and family. See little ones face light up when they are the star of their own bedtime story. Prices start at £10.99 www.chloesmummy.co.uk 10

10 BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss


Sandy Ford Custom Dolls Who wouldn’t want their own personalised paper doll? Artist and mum of two, Sandy Ford achieves excellent likenesses from photos. Her designs are customised for both boys and girls, toddlers and adults and outfits feature dress-ups and everyday clothes. The sets come in magnetic and digital paper versions. Sandy Ford custom dolls range from £12-£30 www.sandyforddesign.etsy.com

That's Sew Laura "Ultimate Party Dress" This 100% cotton, fully lined dress was designed & created by me. This image shows popper closure, but it can be made with buttons. It has an integral bow & a beautiful puffball skirt. Items are made to order & they can come in a range of fabrics. Retails at £35 for up to age 2 www.thatssewlaura.co.uk

Clarkie Designs Emma at Clarkie designs has created a lovely collection of childrens wall art and personalised nursery prints. All the pictures are either hand made collages or fun, original prints. Whether you are decorating your own baby's nursery, looking for your child's bedroom, or buying that special gift for a friend, Clarkie Designs creates beautiful artwork, especially for kids. £19 plus £4.95 P&P www.clarkiedesigns.co.uk

Who Loves Me? Award winning personalised flashcards. Each card has a photo on the front and a brief description of the person on the back (all uploaded by the customer on the easy-to-use website). They help babies and young children recognise and learn about their extended family, while encouraging communication and language skills. £11.99 (pack of 8 cards) www.wholovesme.co.uk 11

11 Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk


Mum’s Business Case Study A story of achievement;

Melinda Holohan’s

Circa The Circular

Calendar Have you ever had a nagging feeling at the back of your mind, wondering if you should be doing something bigger or better?

being made redundant, as I had gone through a personal tragedy a couple of years prior, so everything else was just a blip compared to it.

Or even just something different? I did... and after 20+ years of working for someone else, I decided to do something about it and just did it - with a little push...

My family and I had just returned from a trip to Ireland during the August Bank Holiday weekend. I had a manager’s workshop early the day after. I was one of the first ones at the meeting, when the HR It was the end of summer 2009 and director called me out for a the mood in the financial markets separate meeting. I knew what was was dire with the markets in going to happen, so I just sat turmoil from the effects of the quietly and listened. When the credit crunch. I worked as a project director was done speaking, I said manager in the sales and marketing fine and asked him when I could department of a global asset leave and when I could get my management. Two rounds of severance package. redundancies had taken place in less than a year, but I like many of “I was compelled to my colleagues had grown develop a solution. I disillusioned with the company and my career prospects there. couldn’t sleep that night I had only just returned from my maternity leave with my daughter, and I was given a non-descript job that even my managers couldn’t define upon my return. I came to work but never unpacked my boxes or put up any personal affect on my desk. I never really worried about

12

thinking about how...” I left work right after the meeting. I called my husband and my family, then went home and literally sat down with a piece of paper and made two lists: what was I good at and what I enjoyed most, and I

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

decided to start a company based on providing and developing practical solutions for family life. My company eleventyone Limited was incorporated two weeks after I was made redundant (although I kept it on dormant status whilst I learnt the ropes of starting a business). My mental archives opened like floodgates and I recalled my idea for the buggy accessory that I had when I had first returned to work after having my son Thomas. I worked on this for a few months, but came across too many logistical issues that I decided to put it on hold.

12


Mum’s Business Case Study children when they need me, but also the freedom and enjoyment in being my own boss and making decisions that directly impact my life. I get to wear different hats, literally being creative one minute, business minded the next and then putting on the mum hat where I have to fit in doing laundry, shopping and cooking in between starting a business.

In the meantime, one evening in early February 2010 I was putting my son Thomas to bed when he asked me when he could go swimming again. When I struggled to explain the calendar and the order of the days to my son, I was compelled to develop a solution. I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about how I would present the calendar in a simpler way for children. I designed Circa - the Circular Calendar that same night and by morning time, the basic design was completed and it remains largely the same now as it did that evening. Having a close to finalised design or an idea, however, does not mean that mass production can be achieved overnight. There were a number of issues regarding the best type of materials to use for the toy, basic design issues and some communication issues as well. At times the project came to a halt

13

until the best solution was found. One time we were close to abandoning the project, as I couldn’t agree with the existing factory regarding the material to use. Whilst I am not an engineer, my background in design and logical thought process in project management, helped me come up with solutions to the various problems, as well as helped me push the project along.

“One time we were close to abandoning the project” Money has never been the driving force in driving the projects forward, but instead it’s recognition for developing a useful solution to a problem, as well as finding enjoyment in what I do. In starting my own company based on my own ideas, it has not only afforded me the flexibility of being able to be there for my

It’s a lot and many times I have to work late nights or very early mornings when everyone is asleep in order to fit it all in. But I wouldn’t change it one bit. I love being my own boss, as it gives me the greatest satisfaction I have ever had in my working life. I always felt that I was supposed to be doing something more, something different and be my own boss and I’ve now achieved that and it feels fantastic. I was adamant to turn a negative experience into a positive one. Also, I was turning 40 shortly after being made redundant, and I saw it all as a new chapter in my life. I strongly believe that turning 40 was a turning point in gaining my confidence back, taking control of my life and enjoying the next chapter. I recall going into my old place of work to pick up some things and I ran into an ex-colleague who when I told him that I had already formed a company, he smiled and said: “Ha! Melinda - like a cat! Always lands on her feet!” For more information go to www.eleventyone111.com - Practically Essential -

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

13


Business Directory

Business Directory

Join the world of

An attractive accessory for mum & teething relief for baby... the latest must-have for mums.

Teacher Training Packages Running in 4 Locations in 2011

Mention this ad for 5% saving

louise@babysigningmummy.com

In a variety of stylish, fashionable colours, it’s no wonder they are a hit with celebs such as Denise van Outen. From just £10

www.gumigem.co.uk

Business Directory 14

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

14


15

15


My story: Saira Khan

Saira Khan: from Apprentice to

Mumpreneur It was exactly 7 years ago that I received the much coveted title, “mouth of the south” after my performance on The Apprentice. It was the first time many British viewers had seen an Asian gobby bird doing business like a man and leading the pack. Thankfully my performance got me to a respectable position in the show and whilst many felt I should have won, in hindsight I’m really glad that I did not. After the show I got my own BBC children’s business show “Beat The Boss” and managed to present some amazing programmes, I wrote a book published by Random House called P.U.S.H. For Success and I set up my own business www.miamoo.co.uk formulating and selling natural skincare products for delicate skin. It’s been an amazing 7 years.

before deciding on a career change and dived head first into the commercial world. I worked in the biscuit market, as well as putting on a few pounds, I also progressed quickly in sales and within 2 years was managing my own team of sales people in Central London. I realised that I was born to sell and loved the psychology of it and giving customers the best service. It was all this that stood me in good stead for The Apprentice, my performance wasn’t a fluke or down to good editing, I did have some actual skill.

But I think I have to make some things very clear – just because I appeared on The Apprentice I didn’t wake up to people knocking on the door and offering me amazing jobs, my phone wasn’t ringing every five minutes from top companies offering me unbelievable opportunities and I didn’t become a business expert overnight just because I appeared on a business reality show.

I love working, thinking and learning and setting up my own business has given me the chance to do all the above everyday. It’s been such hard work, harder than I ever imagined it would be and harder than what anyone advised it would be. Since 2006 when I launched miamoo I have been working 16 hours a day to keep all the plates spinning and let me tell you, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur and you don’t have the Before appearing on The Apprentice I privilege of a rich mummy or daddy had gained a BA (Hons Degree) and or access to unlimited funds then the an MA. I started my career as a Town reality is that the first 5 years are Planner and did this for 5 years going to be HARD WORK and like me

16

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

you may have to keep a main job going to fund your business in the early years. I’ve learnt so much about myself and about business since launching miamoo and whilst I’ve had some success I’ve also made some horrendous mistakes which has cost me financially – but I believe that you can’t be successful until you make mistakes, the important thing I have learnt is never to make the same mistake twice. I’ve read so many biographies of millionaires and billionaires but I just can’t seem to relate to them – they were operating in a different time, under different rules without google, facebook, tweets and a whole host of other social networking mediums, they didn’t have to care for the environment nor did they have as much competition on a global scale as we business entrepreneurs do today and finally as a working mum I have a whole host of other issues to consider. Its been a hard 7 years and I haven’t stopped, but the moment it was all

16


My story: Saira Khan worth it was when for the first time I saw someone put my product in their shopping basket and pay for it. That was the moment when I felt I could call myself a business person, I had created a brand and product from

scratch and I now had customers. It was self belief and confidence that have carried me through the difficult times. I am passionate about dry skin issues in children and as a mother I know other mums are too – I believe that when they try a product that works, they will be loyal to it. It has been that customer loyalty over the last 7 years that has finally led me to sign a joint venture deal with Creightons Plc. With their partnership, experience and guidance I can now take my little brand to a whole new level. Our first major success was to get a listing in selected Boots stores nationwide – when I heard the news that Boots would be stocking my brand in their store I cried tears of happiness. People often ask me what makes a successful business person, it’s so easy to come out with all the clichés, but for me its about the person that you are more than your product or your service. During my years as a corporate sales manager, there was one consistent message in my training, “people buy people,” and I believe in that wholeheartedly. All my sales training revolved around “personal development” rather than “selling the product”. I was taught about self awareness, how to listen,

17

speak, engage, empathise with others, how to recognise a buying signal, skills in learning how to visualise, prioritise, how to give and take feedback and the list goes on and on. It takes a lot of skill to be a successful person and it takes a lot more skill to be a person that other’s like and want to do business with.

actually seen as signs of success, but I am learning to be flexible and adaptable so that I can do business successfully no matter who my customer is or in which community I am doing business in. In today’s global economy, it pays to be insightful of others and yourself.

I’ve always been fascinated with people and how they behave and have been interested in knowing/finding out what people think about me – there are times when I have said, “I don’t care what other’s think”, but really I do care and I use that phrase as a front to protect myself from harsh comments and opinions. My personal development journey is still

I am my business and my success will depend on how I talk to people, how I influence and motivate them, how I sell myself to them, how proactive I am, how high my standards are and how I get people to believe in my vision and help me to achieve it. I cannot make my dreams come true alone, I need others to help me and therefore I need to make sure that with every person that I meet I give them the best of me. Not everyone is going to like the best of me, so I grow a thick skin and carry on and I try and learn from the knockbacks. Over the years I have grown a thick skin, the

on going, whilst I display some great traits, I also possess some that other’s don’t find attractive like, being outspoken, driven and competitive, loud and excitable and confident. Coming from an Asian community, all the negative traits I describe are

knock backs I have had have at times been hard to take, but I can honestly say that in most cases they have fired me up to do better and prove other’s wrong. The best thing ever to happen to me was to come runner up on The Apprentice.

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

17


Featured Business Opportunity

Discover VitaBella Looking for a genuinely new opportunity? Then you need to see what VitaBella is bringing to the market. the business. “As an independent consultant you decide on the hours that you want to spend and importantly the time that fits in with your life” explains Iain.

The concept of VitaBella – Italian for ‘beautiful life’ – is summed up by the phrase “staying beautiful naturally”.

Italian Origins Developed in the beautiful region of Puglia in Southern Italy, the VitaBella range of organic skin care products is the result of the Italian passion for natural beauty treatments and dedication to organic production methods. Founded by Warwickshire entrepreneurs Iain Taylor and Suzanne Baxter, VitaBella brings a genuinely unique Italian concept in natural skin care to those looking for home party plan business opportunities with real potential.

After 10 minutes, skin is noticeably more hydrated, feels smoother and really glows. It’s the ultimate home party demonstration!

A Natural Business Opportunity Iain and Suzanne are really excited by the interest and growth that VitaBella has already generated and are looking for dynamic team members to join

“In return we offer a generous compensation plan that rewards you for your sales, along with training and support programmes to help you build your business. Our approach is not about high pressure sales, we have designed VitaBella to allow our consultants to develop their businesses alongside their day to day lives”. To find out more about the business opportunities with VitaBella you can contact Iain or Suzanne on info@myvitabella.co.uk or visit www.myvitabella.co.uk.

Anti Ageing, Nature’s Way The signature product within the VitaBella range is the revolutionary 10 minute VitaBella Anti-Ageing Face Mask treatment. It’s a simple, mess free process. A natural anti ageing complex is poured onto a compressed mask tablet which absorbs it and opens up into a soft biodegradable mask. This is simply put onto the face for 10 minutes while the complex is absorbed. 18

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

18


19

19


Business Directory

Business Business Directory Directory

Hop onto the Little lily Pad...

www.littlelilypad.co.uk

Unique, beautiful gifts lovingly

made in the UK

www.yourlittlemonkey.co.uk A pair of socks turned into a...

sock monkey! Business Directory

Prices from

20

BusinessMumsJournal.com BusinessMumsJournal.com -- Be Be your your own own Boss Boss

ÂŁ5

sales@yourlittlemonkey.co.uk 20


21

21


Blogging for business - how to generate content

Nobody wants to know what I had for breakfast! How to quickly and easily generate more ideas than you need for your blog or social media output without it taking over your life” Jean Maund is the owner of a successful Midlands based web-design and online marketing company, specialising in helping female entrepreneurs make the most of the power of the internet to bring more customers, clients and profits to their business, quickly and easily. She excels at breaking down jargon and technical information into immediately understandable and, more importantly, actionable steps. Here she gives her insight into blogging for business success... We all know that we ‘should’ be blogging, tweeting and Facebooking to engage our customers and promote our businesses but how on earth do you do all that whilst still actually running your business? One of the problems is coming up with the ideas in the first place. After all, no-one does want to know what you had for breakfast – unless of course you’re a chef and you’ve just created something delicious!

hear a collective sigh of relief there? Using tools such as Google reader and Google alerts you can set up the system to tell you when other people are saying something interesting and applicable to your business. Signing up is quick and easy and once done you get all the information on your topic delivered to you. This is a great way to quickly scan a huge amount of material to decide which is most relevant to you.

Then if you have ideas and you’re ready to go, how do you know that people will find it interesting? And, more importantly, how do you know if people are searching for what you are talking about?

To generate ideas and to find out what people are searching for at the same time we go to our old friend Google. As soon as you start typing in a word these days Google helpfully starts to give you some suggestions.

The first principle is that you don’t have to come up with all of the content yourself. Did I

The clever trick is that these are not just random suggestions but

22

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

the top things people are searching for. So to use this to your advantage put in one word appropriate to your business e.g. if you sell baby clothes, type ‘baby clothes’ then add a space and then just the letter ‘a’. This will give you a list of things people are searching for. When I did this as I’m writing the suggestions that came up were ‘at Sainsbury’s’, ‘at Boots’ etc. Not that helpful I admit but if you go through the alphabet one letter at a time replacing ‘a’ you will find some useful suggestions that could turn into a blog post. These came up when I got to ‘f’: o

Free delivery

o

For boys

o

For girls

o

For twins. 22


Blogging for business - how to generate content I’m guessing you could write a post about each of those if you were selling baby clothes and you could guarantee that people were searching for those terms. And, of course, you can always repeat this with another ‘starter’ word or two. Once you have all this information coming in how do you handle it? Here are some suggestions: 1. Comment on it – new legislation that will affect your customers in the news? Tell them how it will affect them in simple terms. 2. Take the ideas and write your own version – please note I do not mean ‘steal’ the content.

23

It has to be your own words but it doesn’t mean you can’t use someone else’s structure and ideas as long as you give it your own twist. 3. Record a quick video and post that to YouTube. 4. Simply point people in the direction of interesting content. The fact that you act as a sign post to others’ material gives you associated kudos. Now we come to the issue of how to manage all of this information. There are several online tools that will allow you to schedule your posts and updates. I use two, namely Hootsuite and BufferApp. If you search for these they come with

helpful instructions. This means that wherever possible I put aside a block of time to write my posts in advance and then schedule them. Applications such as Mailchimp will do the same for email newsletters. In summary I believe that all of these activities are valuable and will bring you more customers, clients and therefore profits but you need to be in charge and manage them rather than allowing the technology to manage you. For more information on how Jean could help your business go to www.justaskjean.co.uk or tweet her: @justaskjean

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

23


Marketing: Secrets of promoting your own business

A successful marketing mix: Secrets of promoting your own business. Many business owners only see success when a sale takes place, but getting people on to your mailing list is important so that you can start to communicate with them. A large purchase is obviously more valuable on one level than a small purchase, but people who make small purchases can be encouraged to return and spend more if you obtain their contact details. In this article, Antonia Chitty explains how understanding product funnels can help you encourage someone to travel from browser to buyer, and from buying small purchases to bigger ones. The Product Funnel is most easily understood visually: look at the diagram below and ask yourself if you have something to offer people at a range of levels. If you have some free or very low cost items to offer you can use this to draw in people to share their details with your business.

buys. They are ‘warm’ to your business once they have made their first purchase so you need to look at how you can exploit your relationship and provide something that will ‘solve their problems’ even more effectively.

You can then start communicating your marketing messages to them, build a relationship and draw them further down the funnel. Many people will only commit to a small purchase at first, so have a range of products that you can encourage as many people as possible to buy. Look at how you might move purchasers of small items on to making bigger, more valuable,

24

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

Do you have an email newsletter for your practice? Email marketing is a great way to keep your business at the forefront of people’s minds and a valuable way to develop relationships with people who will become loyal customers and to stay in touch with those who are customers already. Remaining in touch on a regular basis can ensure people stay loyal to your business and increase the number of purchases that they make. Your first step to successful email marketing is to build your email contact lists: do you already gather email addresses? If not, look at what you need to do to your systems to ensure that this

24


Marketing: Secrets of promoting your own business takes place. Make sure you comply with the Data Protection Act and offer the chance to opt out of email marketing. Make it attractive for website visitors to opt in to your newsletter in. You need to think about creating offers, offering an eBook or special discount for subscribers. Place competitions on your website or complementary local websites: as part of the terms and conditions of entry you then explain that you will send entrants your newsletters. Consider the technical side of sending newsletters. You may have something built into your current customer management system which will link to a sign up box and provide you with templates for mailouts. Otherwise, you’ll need to export your customer contacts and upload them into an email service provider, such as Aweber, Mailchimp, Vertical Response or Constant Contact which will also generate the code that you need to add a sign up box to your website. Once you have picked your newsletter provider, spend some time exploring the templates they offer. You can simply pick one, or customize it with your logo. Ensure that your business colours and branding are reflected in the newsletter. It is better to send out a short newsletter every fortnight or

25

month than spend ages on one newsletter and not get back in touch with people for a year. Think of 12 reasons to get in touch with your customers and potential customers and write one in your marketing plan each month to remind you to mail your customers. Tie your newsletter in with other marketing activities, PR and advertising. Make sure you send people on your mailing list an exclusive offer or special discount regularly. This is one way to start building relationships with new and potential customers and to keep them coming back. Focus on the results you want for your newsletter. Look at creating pages on your main website to get newsletter readers to take action when they click through to your site. This sort of page is known as a landing page: a page specifically designed for people visiting the website as a result of your

newsletter. This page will be written with the newsletter topics in mind, so that the copy on the landing page is attuned to the particular promise or offer that you are making, or the problem that you are offering to solve in each newsletter. You can test the effectiveness of different content on the landing page by measuring how many people buy the suggested product, enter the competition or take another action that you suggest in the newsletter. Measure the number of visitors to the page, and the number that take action to calculate your conversion rate. Conversion from your newsletter is the way to measure its success. If this article has helped you, and you missed Antonia Chitty’s talk at the Business and Baby show, use the contacts below to find out how to attract people to your email list using PR, advertising and marketing.

Antonia Chitty MCIPR is an award winning entrepreneur and author of 13 books on Business, Health and Parenting. A mum to three, she has run her own PR business since 2003 and now specialises in training small business owners in marketing and social media. Her latest book, Marketing: The Essential Guide, will help any business owner who wants to learn marketing skills used by professionals. For more information go to www.aceinspire.com , follow Antonia on Twitter: @antoniachitty or www.facebook.com/antonia.chitty

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

25


A new business opportunity

Could you run this magazine?

Editors wanted in: Tamworth Wolverhampton Solihull Coventry Dudley Walsall Leamington Spa

The Business Mum’s Journal is expanding! We’re looking for virtual editors in areas across the Midlands We’ve done all the hard work and can help you set up your own home business that will allow you to earn a great part time income, whilst being there for your family. To be part of this exciting venture, contact us right away for an information pack...

editor@businessmumsjournal.com | www.businessmumsjournal.com

Contribute to the UK’s national

r u e n e r p Mum census To help build a the national profile of UK mums in business, simply go to:

www.mumsclub.co.uk/census and your business mum profile could be chosen as on of our featured mums.

26

Thank you!

26


27

27


28

28


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.