What are the odds.....

I am so excited about giving away our first pair of Lizzie Lou Shoes to a registered customer of our e-newsletter.  I started preparing for the drawing and I realized that I  had no idea how to do a random drawing from a list of emails from Constant Contact.  So I emailed Holly Hanna with the Work at Home Woman, 

http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/, and asked how she did the drawings on her website.  She referred me to the website www.random.org.  So tonight, I downloaded my contacts and ran through the test process on random.org and the winner of the test was...Holly Hanna.  I thought that was pretty odd since she was the one who directed me to the "random" site.  

The next step was to do the drawing for real, so I went through the process, paid my $4.95 fee and the winner was....Matt Edwards (a.k.a. my husband).  Well, that was money well spent (UGH!).  I decided I better edit my list and make sure there aren't any more "test" emails.  After deleting my email and my mom's, I ran through the test mode several times to make sure I didn't miss anything, each time getting a different person.... (Good, it works).  

Finally, I did the real drawing, pay my $4.95 fee, and once again, the winner is Holly Hanna.  

Free Pair of Lizzie Lou Shoes 8-4-10 2nd drawing held by Sheena Edwards Completed on Wednesday, 4 August 2010 at 00:37:30 UTC 58 entrants, 1 winner

Winners (1)

1st: "holly@theworkathomewoman.com"

Again, what are the odds?  

So happy Holly gets to sport a pair of Lizzie Lou Shoes!  She is one awesome woman who loves to help other women!!!!!  Congratulations Holly!  

Top 10 Social Networking Sites for Mompreneurs

Top 10 Social Networking Sites for Mompreneurs

Original Post:

http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/top-10-social-networking-sites-for-mompreneurs/

By Holly Reisem Hanna

With the abundance of social networks geared towards mompreneurs, and with new communities popping up daily it is impossible to keep up with all of the new and popular networks out there. You could spend days, maybe even weeks or months just browsing all the different social networking sites dedicated to women entrepreneurs and work-at-home moms.

To help narrow your search here are my top 10 social networking sites for mompreneurs that provide amazing resources, tips, strategies and education for mompreneurs and work-at-home moms.

Mommy Millionaire – hosted by bestselling author and mompreneur extraordinaire, Kim Lavine. Mommy Millionaire is an online business coaching community of both male and female entrepreneurs. Membership is free, but all members are screened before being allowed to participate, which makes for a high caliber network (No SPAM here). The greatest thing about this network is that Kim herself is very active in forum participation, blog posts and a radio show – which is all free education for you!  Over 1,600 + members. For more info see: Mommy Millionaire

Mom Invented Community – hosted by bestselling author and mompreneur, Tamara Monosoff. Another great community to get free education from a well-respected and successful mompreneur. Tamara offers videos, hosted events, forums and much more. Membership is free and takes just a few minutes to set up. Over 165 members. For more information, please see: Mom Invented Community.

Mompreneur Café – is run by Jan Hefferin and has 664 members. The network has the typical Ning functions, but what I have found is that the women in this community are very receptive and friendly, for this reason I highly recommend joining. For more information, please see: Mompreneur Cafe.

Twitter Moms – hosted by Megan Calhoun, Twitter Moms is a great place to get ideas. Boasting over 25,000 members Twitter Moms has a daily frenzy of activity going on from blogging contests, Twitter parties, events, featured mom of the week and featured blogger of the week.  Check it out for some great ideas and inspiration – Twitter Moms.

A Mom Entrepreneur – hosted by Tammy Jones, A Mom Entrepreneur is a wonderful place to promote your business. The members are friendly, Tammy is very active in the community and you can even be featured on the front page as a Featured Mompreneur. Currently has over 750+ members, for more information, please see: A Mom Entrepreneur.

My Work Butterfly – is the social network for moms who want to spread their wings! Founded by Bradi Nathan and her partner Terry Starr, My Work Butterfly has a very unique feature in that it often features interviews from celebrity moms – not to mention that it is chalked full of information and resources. Over 4,475 members, for more info see: My Work Butterfly.

Café Mom – an enormous social network of moms, with over 70,000 groups, Café Mom has everything – cool widgets, contests, giveaway, groups galore, articles, you could spend hours on this site and not even scratch the surface of what it has to offer. For more info see: Café Mom.

Work It Mom – contains blogs, resources and a community for working moms. Co-founder Nataly, blogs daily about the issues affecting working moms, she also shares her own juggle between work and family. With over 12,000 members Work It Moms allows you to contribute, share, shop and connect. For more info see: Work It Mom.

Savor the Success – founded by Angela Jia Kim and Marc Stedman, Savor the Success is a PR Co-Op and a niche social media network for women entrepreneurs both online and offline. Offering affordable PR tools for premium members such as PR Opps, media lists, gift lists and PR writing services. For more info see: Savor the Success.

She’s Connected – founded by Donna Marie Antoniadis, She’s Connected is a community for busy women! She’s Connected is the one place for women to manage both the personal and professional sides of their lives. Members can create a personal profile for family and friends or a professional profile for clients and colleagues. They can keep them separate or combine the two but only if they want to. She’s Connected offers a unique and spirited community infused with compelling content from experts on careers, health, relationships, beauty, fitness, parenting, pregnancy, food and entertainment.  For more info see: She’s Connected.

Your Big Idea Could Be The Real Thing

Guest Blog on The Work at Home Woman 


By Sheena Edwards


http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/your-big-idea-could-be-the-real-thing/



Many people have amazing ideas for new products, but don’t know where to start. Don’t feel frustrated—it just takes some time and lots of research.  There are many online resources for small businesses that can help you find the information you need to get started.


Researching Your Idea:
The first step, and most important in taking your idea to market, is research.  Are there other products on the market that are similar?  Does your product fulfill a need that no other product on the market fulfills?  Who will purchase your product?  Start with Internet searches.  Google everything you can think of that would be similar to your product.  The last thing you want to is to produce something exactly like another product.  You can also gather information from industry associations, local universities, libraries, and small business associations.  A trip to the library or a few hours online can set you on your way to really understanding the market.


Target Market:
You will need to define your target market.  A product does not need to meet the needs of all people, but instead should reach a specific customer group.   As an entrepreneur you should understand their wants and needs, income level and spending habits.  You should find out everything you can about the customers your product will target and these customers needs.  This information will help you in developing the product and structuring your marketing campaign to target them.
There are many wonderful Internet resources that can assist you with defining your target market and helping you to understand the targeted customers’ needs.  This may require assistance from a professional, but try to find as much information as you can on your own.  I contacted the UTSA Small Business Development Center in San Antonio and met with an advisor that helped me define my target market and work through my Business plan.


Understand Your Competition:
If there are products similar to your idea, then you need to learn about their pricing, manufacturing, competition, age of the product, and position on the market.  Does this product have something that your product idea does not?  Is it cheaper or more expensive, and how long has this product been available?  Where is the product being sold?  Will you sell to the same customer base or does your product target a different consumer or demographics?  All of these things are important in the pre-production stage of your product.
Many entrepreneurs fail to realize there are similar products being made and will have a hard time competing against big companies that are backed with large pocket books.
When developing my line of flip flops, understanding the competition played a huge role in the quality and characteristics of my product.  I discovered what people did and didn’t like about the competition, and made my goals accordingly.  I strived to have lower prices, better quality and comfort and styles that no one had done in a flip flop.  This made my product more competitive.


Additional Research:
One thing that can be helpful in developing a new product is customer opinions and feedback.  Large companies always use focus groups and do surveys before they launch a product in the market.  You can do this too.  Talk to your family and friends who are in your target market, meet with stores that you would sell your product too and learn everything you can about how your product will succeed.   As soon as I had samples from the manufacturer, I began working with a local boutique that had experience selling shoes to my targeted consumer.  They advised me on popular sizes, pricing, and trends in the market place.  This relationship was the key to the success of my product.


http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/