The Business Mums Network is a unique group of business people who support and assist each other to flourish in business and life. The network welcomes new members and is known to be a great place to share ideas, encourage, support and learn from other members.

Their blog is also full of handy tips for running a business whether it’s small, home based or not home based. Each day of the week you will find posts on anything to do with running a business and managing time between family and work. The posts are not long but just the right size for my liking with enough information to get you ‘in the know’ with all things business.

Take a peek at these -

Marketing Monday - general tips on growing your business. Many marketing ideas don’t have to be huge ideas with huge budgets. There are many ideas that can be tackled simply, daily and in small ‘doses’ – and a little each day can do more than you might expect.

Friday Five - BMN reports are short reports, available on Fridays! Each report is $5 through PayPal and will be available for download right away. Some of the topics so far have been on – compiling an ebook,  growing your email list, ideas for newletter content … and more.

In Between Days - snippets on branding, competitions, finance, publicity, reviews …. the list goes on.

If you’re running a business of any kind or thinking about starting one then do yourself a favour and check out what Business Mums have to offer.

    Are you a mum who is running a small business, or thinking of starting one?  Then here is a great opportunity for you.

The third annual Business Mums Conference is a fantastic weekend for all small business people. “Recharge Your Business” will give you:

• practical information and solutions you can apply
• networking opportunities
• inspiration to build a strong business
• perspective on your business

When: June 20-21
Where: Holmesglen Conference Centre, Chadstone, Victoria
Full details: Business Mums Network

If you haven’t discovered the Business Mums Network yet it is worth checking it out. Don’t wait for the conference to arrive, get a taste of what BMN is all about and join in the forum where you’ll find a unique group of business people who support and assist each other to flourish in business and life – you’re sure to get hooked.

BMN also has a blog which is upated regularly with snippets on business news & tips on running a business.

Many small, home based businesses don’t have a huge budget for advertising & promotion. Tash from Word Constructions gives us a few tips on promoting your business without paying out mega dollars. Like me, you’re probably doing one or two of these ideas already but here are more ideas for promotional items …..    

 

Promotional Items

by Tash Hughes of Word Constructions (www.wordconstructions.com)

To get your business exposure beyond advertising, it is worth looking at distributing some promotional items.

Promotional items can be given out at trade fairs, at networking events, in goodie bags at various events, in hampers, at exhibitions and as gifts to clients; they can even be given to other business owners to distribute for you.

You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money to have promotional items that will make an impression on your clients and potential clients. The most obvious promotional items are product samples, vouchers and flyers, but that aren’t the only items you can use.

Be creative and have some fun with your promo items. The following ideas may get you started…

• Make a bookmark – it could just have your logo and business details, or you could add a beautiful image, a funny or sentimental verse, some tips relevant to your business, a cartoon or anything else you can think of!
• Attach a packaged tea bag or coffee serve to a flyer or business card with a message like “Take a break on us”
• Print an article that will be of use or interest to people
• Add a card with useful information on it – a recipe, some business/parenting/health tips, a list of websites related to a topic, positive affirmations
• Get some magnets made as these are practical and likely to be kept somewhere visible. For even more interest, consider a photo frame, calendar or useful information magnet.
• Choose a small treat that matches your business message and attach it to a message, business card or flyer. Some treats you can try are:
  • Bath salts for a person to relax
  • Lollies to sweeten their life
  • Old fashioned lollies for sentimentality or memory
  • Frogs so they can hop into…
  • A balloon for hope
  • Matches to set their lives on fire
  • Monopoly house as a symbol of their dream house
• A gift card they can use (if your business details are on this, you get double the exposure, but be tasteful with it!)
• Prepare some puzzles or a quiz, or even some colouring-in pages for their kids
• Add a promotional item with your logo or business name such as
  • A notepad or sticky note pad
  • A pen or pencil
  • A container of mints or lollies
  • A yoyo
  • A ruler (there are lots of different types to chose form)
  • An eraser
  • Lip balm or sunscreen
  • A sticky tape dispenser
  • A mouse pad
  • Coasters
  • Personalised chocolate wraps
  • Lanyards
  • keyrings – don’t make them too big or they won’t be used
  • a cap or beanie

Clear communication is critical to the success of any business, but it is often left to care for itself in many businesses. Tash Hughes is a professional and skilled writer who makes technical and otherwise boring information accessible for everyone a business needs to communicate with. Next time you need webcopy, articles, newsletters, reports or any other business document, visit www.wordconstructions.com to see how Tash and her team can help your business succeed.

Tash has some great articles on her web site. If you are in need of writing services or would like to use an article for your own site, visit Word Constructions for a selection of very useful articles.

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March Special – 10% off Storewide

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Don’t Miss Out

 Only 7 Days To Go.

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Discount on prices will end on midnight 31st March.

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Ok, so I really mean the Philosophy of Charles Schultz - a post I enjoyed by Nicole at The Modern Goddess. Charles Schultz was the creator of the comic strip Peanuts. There are two sets of questions to read through and two lessons given. I love it – have a read & see what you think.

Do you set yourself S.M.A.R.T goals? I love this article because it’s what I’m having to go through now – thinking about & setting myself S.M.A.R.T goals. If you stick to it it’s really quite simple & not difficult to do.

Nicole writes - 

Setting goals is an important factor for life and for your career or business. As someone who likes to better myself, develop further and achieve a certain success in my life, I like to set goals.

When setting goals I tend to use the S.M.A.R.T. acronym and if you’ve attended any sort of goal setting workshop, you probably discussed this at some point.

For those not familiar with the acronym, let me introduce it to you:-

More ….

I hope you enjoy reading these posts.

The campaign to completely clean and organise the garage continues. We are now half way through. It doesn’t sound much but it’s a huge task. I’ve never seen so much dust, dirt & creepy crawlies …. well they were dead little bodies when I got to them. The more I pull things out the more jobs seem to come to the surface. I won’t complain though because this job is on the move. It looks as though I can only work on it on Saturdays for now. The next step will be to install sisolation to the ceiling and one wall, add plasterboard (or other) to one wall, then clean/wash/scrub the remainder in preparation for painting.

Wish me good health & strength for the next lot of work. Once this is done we’ll begin to sort & empty out the second half of the garage ….. then I can tackle my work room.

ciao for now

I have now limited my listings on Ebay to a range of classic items & solid brass reproductions - ornate counter bells, double inkwells, magnifiers, brass handled walking sticks (eagle head, duck, ornate) to name a few.

All Things Beautiful can be found in my Bidmate store Timeless Treasures. This of course is the title of a new blog I’ve started there too – can I manage yet another blog? Time will tell but I will give it a go. This is mainly to keep in touch with my Bidmate mates and share my thoughts & ideas on the decorative home wares listed in my store.

I believe that most Bidmate members have migrated over from eBay and possibly all for the same reasons – to escape from the high fees charged by eBay.

Stay tuned for a new special I’ll have on offer at Timeless Treasures. Something I would not have been able to do on eBay.

Ciao

Does this sound familiar to anyone? The huge task of reorganising the garage has begun. It’s been a job in waiting for two and a half years and we have finally taken the plunge. This is no ordinary garage … my father’s ‘things’ covered all the walls & shelves; EP Designs’ ‘things’ filled the centre; and everything else was stacked in between, around and on top. In other words it was a DISASTER ZONE.

Today we managed to get a third done – that’s a day’s work not just a couple of hours. More work needs to be done but at least we have finally made a start. I don’t dare show you any photos … perhaps when we’re finished I’ll show before & after shots.

It may take some time to finish it all but now I can see a little more clearly to plan the interior to make it a workable storage and packaging space for EP Designs; and a useable space for the houselhold needs. The state of the finances will dictate what can & can’t be done but I’m sure with a little imagination and ingenuity we can put together a pleasant enough area. Once this is complete I will be able to tackle my studio/work room behind the garage – can’t wait for this to be done because I’m ‘itching’ to get back into my creative work.

Is this a new year’s resolution? No way….. perhaps I should have made it so I could say ‘well I’m sticking to it’. No this is a big step to getting back on track. It will feel so good to have everything in it’s place and a place for everything; And anything that doesn’t have a place gets the boot.

Anyhow, I’m now off to have a well earned rest and then prepare for a lovely St Valentine’s dinner.

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE’S DAY to  Everyone.

Cioa for now

The creative work I’m planning to restart is only part of the plans for this year. It was in recreating items that led me to turn a hobby into a business. This year I’m also planning to revive my business.  It was left to sit by the wayside in 2008 but now with the help & support of professionals I will be able to regenerate my hopes & dreams for EP Designs & Precious Treasures ….. rebuild, renew, refresh.

Planning, refreshing, renewing ideas … these are some of the things that most businesses will do at the start of a new year and even at the start of a new financial year. We must always be looking at ways to improve, change, grow our business – even small businesses need to do this.

As for me it will be a gradual steady move to rebuild … but what about you? Do you have a business? What are your plans?

Are you doing anything to breath new life into your business?

This is a question posed by Melissa on her blog Business Mums Magazine. She also asks for suggestions & comments on this. If you have any great ideas to share please pop over to Melissa’s blog and add them.

If you have any helpful ideas for me also, please share them here too….. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Ciao for now

Back issues of the Business Mums Magazine (up to issue 12) are on sale for the month of January 2009.

Melissa Khalinsky has discounted them by 50%. This is a great opportunity to trial them before subscribing; Or purchase some to give as complimentary gifts to customers; Or order multiple issues to make up a gift pack for a friend who is starting up a business or is looking to grow their business.

Each issue is themed – eg finance; image & branding; networking … and more. Take a look Here for the issues still available. For more information you can contact Business Mums or go the Business Mums Magazine blog.

Ciao for now