Just a quick post to say that our Become a Mumpreneur Course that we launched in Jan 2011 is having one more intake of members before it closes forever.

This course offers the most training for the least investment of all our courses and has been really well received. If you want to join be very quick as it closes at 9pm Friday 3rd Feb.

Watch the video about what’s included here >> Become a Mumpreneur

Guest post by Lisa of www.babynotincluded.co.uk – Funky clothing and accessories from Newborn to Toddler Age

Being a work at home mum is extremely difficult at times, but can fit in very nicely around your family. I started out quite laid back and worked whenever I had time, mostly in the evenings once my son was in bed. This suited us very well and didn?t encroach on family time. However, since the birth of our daughter six months ago it has tipped our whole world upside down and we?ve had to make a lot of adjustments to make things work.

I?m an organised person but often expect far too much from myself and beat myself up if things don?t go to plan. Working from home around the children has many benefits and being self-employed gives me so much satisfaction, and probably the biggest learning curve of my life. These are just a few things that make working from home around my children possible.

Organisation ? This is probably the most important factor when working from home. Make a to-do list in the morning, keeping it as realistic as possible. I have a must-do and to-do list, the must-do list being the jobs that have to be done that day. My to-do list is made up of jobs that need to be done but are of less importance. This way I get satisfaction knowing that things have been done, and a further pat on the back for anything else that has been possible.

Making sure that your workspace is tidy and everything that you need is accessible is also the key to a good working environment. I work from a laptop and have been known to work whilst catching up on the soaps. This is a total disaster and something that I no longer do. I sit up at the table with everything that I need and find this much more productive.

Work in thirty minute blocks. I read a blog post about this some time ago and thought it was really good advice. Working from home means that you are on hand to do household chores, and of course with young children around needing your attention this works really well. Splitting tasks up and doing a chunk of something is far better than trying to cram loads of work in at the same time as keeping a child entertained.

Give yourself a break. At the moment my daughter isn?t that great at sleeping. During the day she needs to be out and about in her pram to sleep, and at night needs to be rocked to sleep. For this reason we go out for a walk after lunch every day. I combine this walk with a trip to the post office to send off any orders that have come through. It also gives me time to think about things.

Visitors ? When I started my business it was seen as a bit of a hobby by some family and friends and wasn?t really taken serious. Whilst it was upsetting it also caused problems for my working pattern. Friends would often pop over unannounced as they knew I?d be home. It took a lot for me to explain that whilst it was lovely to see them I had unfinished work that needed to be completed. It took several chats with some people before it was taken seriously and now they know just to phone or send me a text to find out if it is a convenient time. See it?s not just discipline on your part that?s needed!

Don?t let it take over. It?s easy to work far more hours that full-time employment, and let?s face it most of us do, but you have to remember why you started out in the first place. Mine was because I wanted more children and needed to find a way to make a better work/family balance. Therefore, every now and again I have to discipline myself and put away the laptop.

Enjoying what you do. You?d have to be mad to start a business if it isn?t doing something that you enjoy. This is what keeps me going. I love choosing new stock, I get excited when orders come through, I love it when I get comments about products online. It?s like having another child and each milestone makes me burst with pride.

Online Networking ? This is like having a zillion work colleagues. Best of all, if there?s someone that you don?t particularly like you don?t have to force conversation like in a usual work place. I love chatting to like minded people, batting ideas off each other or just having a groan about the weather. It has also opened up so many opportunities for me that I may not otherwise have known about. Just don?t go overboard. It can be very distracting and time consuming.

These are MY ways of working from home, and may not suit everybody, but that?s the beauty of working from home. As I write this I am sat in my uniform of pyjamas and fluffy slippers

Interested in working from home? Sign up for this free ‘Mumpreneur in a Month’ eCourse.

I have quite an interest in small businesses, especially when they are run by parents, you can read about businesses like this in my mumpreneur series.

I’ve made my points about PR people contacting me with various promotions, and it isn’t the PR people themselves but their approach that has been the issue. On a more positive note I’ve had some great direct communications with small businesses with which I’ve done interviews and promotions with, like my recent relationship with Frugi. We’ve done an interview which helps them tell their story but the reason I like doing them is to inspire and educate budding mumpreneurs, Frugi also sent me some samples of their product for Erin which I’ll get around to photographing soon. What I’m getting at is that this is the kind of organic relationship I like to encourage, something for everyone and I’m sure that Frugi and Littlemummy.com will work together again sometime in the future, the door has been left open.

If you’re a small business owner and want to promote your business via parent blogs I’d recommend you start by reading my post on the three things that need to be present to make a blogger want to work with you.

Here are some further points to consider when approaching blogs;

1. Quality not Quantity

Don’t just go after every blog you can find, consider your product or offering and do some research to find a good fit. Approach blogs that have children the correct age for your product or try and get a feel for the bloggers hobbies, tastes and interests. Given the size of the parent blogosphere I don’t think you want to work with any more than around ten blogs, and I would say that is an absolute maximum, if I were in your shoes I’d go after five that were an excellent fit and make your offer to them and their readers more special. If you have a very exclusive offer choose one blog and let them know they are the only blog that you have approached, this is a particularly good option depending on the kind of promotion you’re thinking of.

2. Do Your Homework

Email your ‘chosen ones’, keep your first contact brief. Introduce yourself and your business. Demonstrate your knowledge of their blog, don’t say ‘I really like your blog’, we don’t believe that crap anymore, instead describe what you have to offer and refer to the information you have gleaned from your research. Say something like; I noticed you live just outside of Edinburgh and you have a preschooler, I have a four year old myself and know how difficult it is to keep children occupied over the summer and wondered if I could send you my product X to try. I would appreciate any feedback. You should avoid asking for a review where possible, bloggers blog, and if they can find something remarkable to say regarding your product they will, and if they can’t, well…sometimes it’s best they don’t blog about it, if you know what I mean

3. Promotional Strategies

Have a specific promotional idea in mind but be open to suggestions, the blogger knows their audience the best and will know what will and will not go down well. Most promotional activities to date have revolved around unpaid reviews, usually for free samples. Here are some other strategies you may consider, what bloggers are open to will vary wildly so proceed with caution and try and figure out what sort of promotions they have done before.

Unpaid Review – This is the most common and involves you providing a complementary product that may be reviewed by the blogger, a positive review can never be guaranteed.

Paid Review – You provide a product and pay the blogger a fee, which may range from ?20 – ?50 to write a review, a positive review cannot be guaranteed, however most bloggers carry out honest and balanced reviews.

Competition/Giveaway – You provide a ‘prize’, the blogger carries out the competition on your behalf. This model has been predominantly unpaid, however, I think we may begin to see a move away from that shortly due to the effort involved. A fee of around ?25 – ?75 may be considered an acceptable range. These giveaways can be promoted on the blog, in a newsletter, via twitter and facebook.

Banner – A more traditional form of advertising involving displaying a hyperlinked graphic in the sidebar. These are usually sold by the month/quarterly/yearly for fees start from around ?20

Advertorial – You provide an article or feature and pay to have this placed as a post on the blog, usually with linkbacks. This isn’t something that has happened much yet but I’d estimate that a fee in the region of ?25-?50.

Newsletter Marketing – Only a small amount of parent bloggers currently have newsletters. Newsletter adverts could be placed for a fee of perhaps ?25 and upwards.

Blog Sponsor – This would involve being the sole sponsor of a whole blog, this may include your logo in the header, a banner advert as well as ongoing joint promotions. I’ve only heard this model being used in America. I’d hazard a guess that a fee in the region of ?500 – ?2000 per year would be sufficient for this to happen.

Promotion via parent blogs in Britain is still fairly new but if you want to grab some serious attention do something different, something groundbreaking. Disney did it with their bloggers trip but it doesn’t take a huge budget, build the relationship and be creative. Good Luck

I’ve done a few courses on blogging and related media now, the most recent one I’ve been doing is with Caroline Middlebrook who is based in the UK.

The course is called the Bloggers Bible and is delivered via email. The course is split into 49 units and you receive one unit per week. This course is ideal for the beginner and intermediate blogger, all of the content I’ve received so far was covered in Yaro’s course however that was a paid thing so I think this is a good deal, free is always good

Caroline includes general lessons in blogging as well as more techincal advice, each ‘lesson’ has actionable content that will help you to become more proficient at the technical side of blogging as well as grow your audience.

Click here to view more details

Aruna is an ex-barrister who now makes an income producing books with BlurbNation. Read on to find out how she does it.

First, a quick introduction to BlurbNation;

BlurbNation is a community of editors, writers, designers, artists, and photographers. Blurb provides everything you need to make books for your clients, including free bookmaking software, your own online bookstore, and a print-on-demand back-end that enables you to print professional-quality books in any quantity. Anyone can become a member of BlurbNation, it?s as simple as signing up and making yourself available to make books

Q1. Can you briefly describe BlurbNation and how it works?

Whilst using the BookSmart software is very easy, there are people who can?t or don?t want to make their own books. Blurb has set up a directory of book makers called BlurbNation to cater to people who want books made but don?t have the time or technical know how to do it.

Book makers who have met certain criteria can apply to Blurb to be included in the directory. The directory is available to the public who can go through it and from details provided choose the right book maker for the job at hand. All dealings between the client and book maker are independent of Blurb who have no contractual relationship with either party.

For book makers themselves BlurbNation is a fantastic means of communicating with each other, sharing ideas and problem solving. In addition to this BlurbNation provides its members with tips on design and marketing too. It can be a lonely job sitting in front of your computer, putting a book together and the support you can gain from other BlurbNation members is immeasurable.

Q2. How did you find out about and become a member of BlurbNation?

I found Blurb very early on and was addicted, making books for anyone and everyone who mentioned an idea, whether it was a party, a business or a passion! As a result of that I was lucky enough to be asked to be the first BlurbNation member in the UK. For some time I didn?t really understand what it was all about. As the months went by and Blurb got more and more exposure here in the UK, I started getting email enquiries and then actually started getting work through it. I didn?t realise how useful it would be then but I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way through BlurbNation.

Q3. Did you have any previous photography or publishing experience?

No, I had no previous experience in either field! I qualified as a barrister and had a criminal and family law practice for 12 years but stopped to bring up my son and daughter (now aged 12 and 8). When my daughter was 5 and at school full time, I found a new lease of life and having received a Canon digital SLR and a Mac Book Pro lap top as Mother?s Day and birthday presents three years ago, there was no stopping me!

I had always been interested in photography but it was an expensive hobby as developing and printing film was a costly exercise, largely because you didn?t really know what you had till the film was exposed. Now you know within seconds of taking a photograph so there is no waste of time or money! I hadn?t had my own income since having my children and I became keenly aware of the fact that everything cost money! Here for the first time, I could experiment with my photography and editing without feeling guilty about mounting costs because if I didn?t like what I did I could simply erase it!

Q4. Do you think it’s possible to make a full or part time wage from book making with Blurb Nation?

In this day and age there is so much competition in every field. Blurb has created such a unique platform where your only outlay is your time and the cost of printing a book so really, there is no risk of losing capital. Realistically, when starting out, Blurb Nation can certainly provide you with pocket money. It will take your own initiative to turn it into a full income sustaining project. If like me you have chosen (and are lucky enough to afford) to stay at home and look after your children, then joining Blurb Nation and making a go of creating full time income from it is not risky. I don?t want to jump the gun and say that I am making a living from it but I can say that I am not far off from being able to!

Q5. Are there any particular skills you think are necessary or helpful to be successful with BlurbNation?

I had no qualifications in the fields of photography and design but I think I had a natural flair for it. The one thing I have gained from BlurbNation and the team who run it is confidence. That confidence, a good eye for design, creativity, and huge amounts of enthusiasm has been my secrets to success.

Q6. How could someone interested in following in your footsteps get started?

To put it very simply, download the software if you haven?t already, get creating and if you have the ability, perseverance and enthusiasm, you will be on your way over those stepping stones to success. You have nothing to lose by trying. In the world we live in it is not every day you get the chance to try something for nothing. BlurbNation is effectively one such chance!

Read more mumpreneur case studies..

Today I’m wondering if there is a sea of change in the world of work for mums.

A very rudimentary timeline;

Pre-1980′s (?) Mums stayed at home to look after children, whilst father earned the ‘daily bread’.

1980′s – Noughties Mums managed careers and family simultaneously. Supposedly ‘having it all’.

The Future

The landscape is changing, many mums are accepting that they wish to be a stay at home parent, if not in full, then in part. Mums also accept that they a) cannot survive on one wage and b) have ambitions of their own. Mums have realised that they cannot ‘have it all’ without ‘doing it all’. The answer is in work/life balance. Up until now ‘work/life balance’ was office talk for ‘we’ll let you leave at three, if you come in at 6am…’ or ‘you can request work/life balance, but you won’t get it, because the business comes first’.

Mums are starting to look for new ways of working, mumpreneurs are popping up all over the place with businesses that allow them to work and enjoy being a parent. Some mums are franchising to allow them to be self employed. Others are looking for opportunities online to make an income. Even the high-fliers are going freelance.

Multiple Streams of Income

One of the ideas I’ve been considering lately is that of multiple streams of income. I think this may hold the key to the way mums will work in the future and a real work/life balance.

The realisation that doing one job that earns ?1000 is exactly the same as five revenue streams that earn ?200 each, should make us all evaluate what we really want from life and aspire to settle for nothing less.

Example

Erica works as an office clerk. She earns ?1000 per month and works thirty hours a week. She must be at the office 9am-4pm each weekday.

Versus

Erica spends 20 hours (one time) producing an ebook. She sells it online and earns ?200 per month (around 20 sales of a ?10 ebook). She spends two hours a week on admin including promotion and answering emails.

Erica works as a waitress part-time (she enjoys the social aspect of this). She spends seven hours a week working. She makes ?200 per month including tips.

Erica does some freelance writing on Bukisa and a couple other sites. She makes ?200 per month in residual income, she has just over 100 articles on Bukisa. She usually spends around three hours per week building a back catalogue, which will continue to earn and grow.

Erica also has a blog, she has begun selling some advert spots and has been doing reviews for a while. She makes on average around ?200 per month. She spends around five hours per week on the blog writing articles and promoting.

Erica (from not working at the office) saves travelling costs of ?4 per day (bus fare), lunch costs of ?3, monthly collections of ?10, work clothes ?20 (per month), and childcare costs of ?420(12 days x ?35). Erica saves well over ?200. She ditches the ridacard, eats low cost lunch at home, saves ?10 to treat herself/husband/child, wears jeans and a t-shirt which doesn’t need replacing too often and looks after her child herself except for two days a week when her child goes to nursery to socialize whilst she works from home.

Total Earned (and saved) = Over ?1000
Time spent working = 17 hours

Many of these hours can be worked at any time of the day or night. I have left out a zillion other possible income streams (small ebay business, freelancing with a skill you have, childminding, selling crafts on etsy, the list goes on…). The earnings also don’t account for the growth in residual income ie. increased ebook sales, adding Bukisa articles etc…

I believe this is a realistic picture of how many mums will make a living in the future. I plane to prove or disprove this theory. My next post will describe how…

For now, what are your thoughts?

This is an interview with Maree Macey, parent and founder of Poteez.? A disposable potty to use on the move.? I hope you enjoy the interview and if you are thinkng of starting a business I hope this interview helps inspire you.

Q1. Give a brief description of your business

Poteez is a flat-packed, bio-degradable, disposable cardboard potty that is designed to make potty training on the go carefree and simple. It assembles quickly and simply into a strong, secure and comfortable potty your child can use anytime, anywhere.

Q2. How did you come up with the idea behind Poteez?

As a child I was diagnosed as having a degenerative bone disease known as Spondyloepimetaphaseal Dysplasia ? only one of five recorded cases. My parents were told I would never walk but my mum gave me the belief. I spent much of my childhood in and out of hospital.

The condition means that I only grew to four foot tall and as an adult I was told I wouldn?t be able to have children, because of my size, condition and the possibility of passing the condition on. Eventually my husband David and I decided to try anyway and after a very difficult pregnancy Thalia Lea was delivered at 31 weeks on July 18th 2002. She weighed just 2lb 9oz and spent seven weeks in intensive care.

As she got older and we approached potty training I really struggled to clean out the potty, and going out was impossible and that?s where the idea for a disposable one came from.

When we researched it we found the only disposable potties available used plastic bags and we didn?t like that idea ? so we set about creating our own cardboard-based version.

Q3. How did you come up with the name?

David has always been quite creative and it took him only a few designs to come up with the first version. When it came to the name we just brainstormed between ourselves, we wanted it to describe its function but convey the benefits ? i.e. that it makes life easier. Poteez was our sixth attempt!

Q4. Did you have any start-up costs, if so how did you raise the finance?

Although we registered the name quite quickly we weren?t in a position financially to do much for quite a while. We did actually take part in a couple of TV invention programmes ? The Richard Hammond Show and then Sky One?s The Big Idea with Ruth Badger, narrowly missing out on the ?100,000 prize.

Around the same time we began speaking to some Business Angels, a firm of accountants called Winburn Glass Norfolk (WGN), who gave us information on how to raise finance. We soon learned that we may be suitable for Regional Investment Fund investment so we contacted South Yorkshire Investment Fund, compiled a strong presentation and were awarded ?120,000 of funding to start the business properly.

Q5. Do you employ staff or do you do all the work yourself?

One of the first things we did was secure the services of a business mentor who had a huge amount of marketing experience. With his help we went back to the drawing board, redesigned the product, artwork and packaging.

We also employed a PR company to raise the profile of the product and ? most importantly set up links in China to have the product made and imported.

In the early days we were assembling the products ourselves but as sales have grown we have recruited others to help.

Q6. How many hours a week do you spend on your business?

We work really hard ? just about every hour possible. David oversees the production and sales side of things and I look after all the administration and financial aspect.

Q7. How do you manage your childcare?

Now that Thalia is at school it is much easier. During the holidays we sometimes take Thalia with us ? she was the inspiration for the company (and features on the packaging) so it is great that she is involved. When we have important meetings we ask family to help out but as with all family-based businesses childcare involves a lot of juggling!

Q8. What strengths do you think it takes to run a successful business?

It takes a lot of patience, dedication and passion. We learned very quickly that nobody will love your product or put as much effort into it as you do and we therefore need to remain focussed.

Q9. What have been your most successful marketing strategies?

Our approach has been in two stages really – before we could afford to employ a PR agency, Lucre, we just entered as many competitions and TV shows as possible and sent our story to as many magazines and newspapers as possible. Now that the product is the in the market place we have a stronger story to tell and have been doing our own research into potty training methods that we hope will further raise the profile of Poteez.

Q10. Would you consider yourself a leader? What are your strengths?

Our strengths are our dedication and belief in the product. We truly believe that there is a market for this product and we have been told that our passion rubs off on other people.

When we started this we were both very inexperienced and have learned a huge amount since then. It has been a rollercoaster ride but our determination has won through.

Q11. Have you done any courses or learning programmes to help you run your business?

The whole thing is a learning curve, no specific course will prepare you for the journey you will follow, one thing I will say is If you can?t do something, find someone who does. It?s better to surround yourself with the right people and get somewhere, than pretend you know and get it all wrong, otherwise it just takes longer and costs more.

Q12. And finally, do you have any advice for parents considering starting their own business.

When you consider the odds I have overcome throughout my life and challenges we have faced with setting up Poteez, I think it demonstrates that no matter where you are from or what your background is, if you want it badly enough and try your best, you can achieve success. I?d just say ?Good luck!?

I have been asked to take a look at the BabySock and give my opinions (I’m pretty good at that!).

I have been paid a small fee to do this, however, it’s the kind of site/product/business I like to champion. Why?

I’m fascinated by Mums, who, through the journey of motherhood come up with products and ideas that help other mums, or help them to support their family and still spend lots of quality time with the kiddies (somethingelse I champion!).

A bit from the about page;

“After moving to the Seattle area with her 6 month old, Robyn found that she wanted to go for walks anytime the rain would clear. The only problem was that her daughter would kick off her blanket. The blanket would get wet, dirty, or stuck in the wheel of the stroller. She started looking for a product that wouldn’t come off her baby. After several months, she realized that despite her lack of sewing skills, she would have to make her own. A few modifications and another baby later, BabySock™ was born in 2004. Robyn will proudly tell you that each BabySock™ is now made by professionals in the Pacific Northwest.”

Wonderful, how about a little picture Robyn? With such a personal story it helps other mums and dads relate to you on a parent to parent level.

A great little story, and as much as I love the ‘mumpreneur thing’ the product needs to be good too. There is no doubting the BabySock is a simple idea borne from a simple problem, we have a similar idea with a slightly different design here in the UK and it seems to do quite well. The price is nice too, at $29.99 it translates quite well in British pounds, although I’m not sure if that has a lot to do with the exchange rate?

Overall, a nice product that has it’s place in the market, however a few tweaks to the website would be good, as I mentioned a photo, and a larger variety of styles of BabySock perhaps with some funky patterns? could really take the product and brand from good to great (from a shopper’s perspective!). Part of the appeal of the BabySock needs to be the brand and I think some funkier designs could tip me over the edge into a purchase.

What does everyonelse think?

Well folks, I’m pleased to announce to you some breaking news.

Slowly but surely consumerism is being overturned by the new wave of creativity. Hand-made beats machine-made hands down and now you can get involved too. Think about what you do best…

Here are a few ideas from get rich slowly on how to become more creative and maybe even make a little extra money on the side. Making money instead of spending money will make you happier and is more of a challenge. So give it a try.

Here are just a couple of the suggestions at Get Rich Slowly

Knitting – Knit. If you’ve been bit by the knitting bug, put that yarn habit to work. Create simple, beautiful hats and scarves. Take commissioned projects. My wife is learning to knit adorable little stuffed animals; she could sell them for $20 a pop.

Cook. Do people rave about your food? Offer to cater events. Provide food for a picnic, for a cocktail party, for a sit-down dinner. Sell cookies and cakes.

You could also;

Produce hand-made cards, soap, candles, or coasters.

Sell your old things on an auction site, and other people’s too.

Make flavoured olive oils, lemon, chilli, garlic – sell them at craft fairs.

Stop spending and start earning. Are you making money from a hobby? Let us into the secret.