Making Product Reviews, Twitter Parties & Conference Prizing Happen for Moms

I started Mom Made That! in December 2008, inspired by a Mom Spark Holiday Guide I created. I witnessed so many amazing mom businesses doing awesome things, so I wanted a place to showcase their talents, inventions, and artistry.

Being an entrepreneur myself, and having tried every home business known to man (i.e. Avon, eBay, housekeeping, home daycare), I know the trials of self-employment. I know how hard it is to stay motivated when sales are slow, time is hard to manage, and your husband “just doesn’t get it”. This is what keeps me inspired to help moms in business.

In addition to helping these mom businesses promote and advertise, I have started connecting them with review bloggers. So far, this has proven very successful for both the business owner and blogger. In the last three weeks, we have connected over 150 bloggers with review opportunities and have received over 300 requests. Because of the huge amount of interest, I have created a Premium Membership for those reviewers who would like to be contacted directly when new opportunities become available. This also means that reviewers do not need to fill out a request form for each product review opportunity, which saves us both tons of time. The fee for Premium Membership is $10 a year and can be requested in our review form HERE. Read more

Love Bug Kids Gives Gifts to Celebrities

I started Love Bug Kids – Hair Bows & More almost three years ago and it has grown year after year, which is outstanding in this economy. While I have experienced growth, one of my goals is to increase my web sales on www.lovebugkids.com and reach out to more customers in areas outside Los Angeles and Orange Counties. So, about six months ago, I decided to apply to become a Baby Swags gifting partner. Baby Swags, like Mom Made That!, strives to help promote mom-preneurs and provides mom-owned companies with pr/marketing opportunities by helping get their products in front of Hollywood celebrities for birthdays, baby showers, holidays, etc.

I elected to participate in three recent giftings to Grey’s Anatomy stars Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo and a birthday gifting to Violet and Seraphina Affleck.  In December, I won a contest with Baby Swags, in which I was able to gift 15 celebrity families with my interchangeable crocheted hat gifts sets and headbands for the holidays. The holiday gifting is what recently resulted in a sweet thank you note from Jennie Garth. Some of the other celebrities I gifted included Marcia Cross, Melissa Ethridge, Matt Damon, Jason Priestly, Amy Poehler and more. Working with BabySwags has also opened up new opportunities for me in advertising, networking, etc. I’ve seen an increase in web traffic to my site and am now just waiting for that “star sighting!”

A Day in the Life of a Power Mom

I have two kids and run two businesses. My kids are a 7-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. My first business, a Web consultancy called Soapbxx, will gross $300,000 in 2009 and employs eight people. The second company, an online finance publication for women called DailyWorth, requires a team of four part-time contractors to operate.

The best news? I’m not mad. I have plenty of time to be with my kids. I even manage to find time to have a leisurely lunch or extended “me” time.

Here’s how I do it:

7am: Our baby girl wakes all of us up.
8am: We’re downstairs, dressed, eating breakfast and packing lunches.
9am: My baby is cared for by a nanny. This nanny shows up at 9am and I hand my baby girl off. My 3-year-old goes to preschool. My husband always takes him to preschool. Bottom line: even if we’re running late, I depart for my home office (top floor of our house) at 9am sharp. This is critical to me. 9am. Work.
9am-11am: After I clean out my inbox, I focus on DailyWorth, my finance blog for women. We send out a daily email, and this requires about two hours of my day to orchestrate.

11am-4:00pm: I focus on Soapbxx, my web consultancy. The tasks I concern myself with include:

I don’t worry about Soapbxx’s internal performance or quality because I’ve learned over the years how to hire only the best people. My team is exceptional and as a result, I don’t have to micro-manage them or worry much. This did not happen by accident. I have 10 years practice hiring and firing. I’ve employed or contracted to 40 people over the last few years and only a select few remain.

4:00pm. I shut down my computer, scoop up my daughter, and drive to pick up my son from preschool. It feels incredible to me that I can run two companies and finish my workday by 4:00. Having been raised by a single mom who was forced into a strict 9-6 corporate work environment, I vowed to set up a life where I could be there for my kids more than my mom was for me. I don’t blame my mom for her absence — she did what she had to do to earn what she needed to earn in the 1980s. But I hated that she couldn’t drive me to school, or be there for me after school. I’m structuring my life so that I can run my businesses and be there for my kids before and after school. In 2009, working moms can have it all if we plan properly.

4:00pm – 9pm. Family time! We run errands (Target, anyone?), make dinner, take baths, read books and every other bedtime ritual that makes having kids so special.

9pm – 11pm. Here’s the part of my life that isn’t so ideal. I generally boot up my Mac and do more work at 9pm. I know my husband would rather that I curl up on the sofa and watch True Blood with him. Sounds dreamy, really. But the truth is, these days I feel pulled to run through emails that came in from 3:30 – 7pm (there are often many) and finish tasks I wasn’t able to finish during the day. I look forward to a day when I can stop work at 3:30pm and not resume until 9am the next day. Until my babies and businesses are more self-sufficient and systematized, it’s a sacrifice I’m making, and hope that my husband realizes it’s temporary.

11pm. Bed.

The keys to my operation:

1. I delegate a lot to very precocious people. I have a very responsible, motivated assistant. Without her, I’d be mad. She loves having her hands in everything from accounting to project management, and I love her for it. If she chooses to leave me (which she will some day), I’ll have a very hard time replacing her.
2. I’m obsessed with cash flow and work with a great bookkeeper/accounting team. For Soapbxx to operate, we need to deposit $25,000 into our bank account every month. I plan quarterly and manage daily when and from whom checks will arrive. My bookkeeper claims I’m one of the best cash collectors she’s ever worked with, and I’m proud to have mastered the science of receivables. Just last month, I got our receivables down to $0.
3. Once a month, I’ll stay up until 4am if need be to push through things I owe. Sometimes, you just have to.

Does my story seem impossible to you? You have to take into consideration my manic, tightly-wound character. I’m more work-obsessed than your average mom. I love my companies and have very ambitious financial goals for myself (tens of millions, thank you). I don’t exercise. I’m generally not eating proper lunches (note above: no lunch break). I do experience exhaustion. I wish I had more time to just be with my husband. For now, I’m satisfied with my structure and recommend it to my power mom friends.

Check out DailyWorth.

UPDATE-Mom Made That! helping the Mayhew Family

UPDATE:

We have reached the end of our collection for the Mayhew family. We raised a total of $100 $166 $223.50 $321.50 $370 $434 for the Mayhew Family!  Thank you to all the mom businesses who helped with this cause.  I will be writing a check to Peter Mayhew this week.

Continue to keep the Mayhews in your prayers because the power of prayer works!

Read my original message below…

***

As many of you know, fellow mom and blogger, Anissa Mayhew suffered a stroke this past Tuesday and still in the ICU.  We are all hurting right now thinking about our vivacious Anissa sick in a hospital bed.  We also know the costs that accrue during a family crisis.  Meals, activities for the kids,  hospitalization  & rehabilitation fees-it adds up quickly.

Mom Made That! is here to help by providing 50% of all listing fees from today until the end of the year directly to the Mayhew family.  Listing fees include all subscriptions and new sign-ups between now and the end of the year.  I will keep a tally each week of the Mayhew Family donations to keep you in the loop.

If you have a mom business or blog and want to purchase a listing, with 50% of the proceeds going to the Mayhews, please LIST HERE.  In addition, please pass the word on to fellow business owners and bloggers.

Our prayers and thoughts are with Anissa and her family.  Follow Anissa’s progress at www.hope4peyton.org and follow the support and love on Twitter at #prayersforanissa.  Anissa also has a Caring Bridge site set up at www.caringbridge.org/visit/anissamayhew.

Please pray for the Mayhews, and thank you for your participation.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT – Review This! Button Available to More Listing Packages

We love putting bloggers and business owners together.  Because of this, we are pleased to announce that our “review this!” button is now available to our “Baby” listing, “Big Girl” listing and “I Am Woman” listings! (previously available in our “I Am Woman” package only)

What is the “review this!” button?  It is a way to review our products and services on Mom Made That!, and now that we are opening it up to more listing packages, more opportunities will now be open to review.

To review our products, simply look for our “review this!” button in our listings, then click.  You will be directed to a form where you will provide some info we need to get you set up.  You will be contacted as soon as possible if your review request is accepted.  We also provide a premium service to those who wish to be updated regularly of new product review possibilities before the rest. ($10 a year, optional in form)

Here are all of our current product or service review opportunities:  http://clicky.me/7EB (keep scrolling down for more listings)  You can also click on the “review our products” link in our navigation bar above.

In addition, if you would like to list your mom biz with Mom Made That! to receive this wonderful option, among our regular powerful promotions, please LIST HERE.

Here’s to one year. (yes, we had our anniversary on December 19th)

Happy Holidays!!

NEW Moms in Business Group on Savvy Source!

Amy Bellgardt

Moms in Business

Guess what?  I’m leading a Moms in Business Group over at the Savvy Source!  I’m so excited to finally have a platform to discuss business one and one with you all. (or anyone who will listen)

It’s easy and painless to join the group HERE.

We’ll be discussing marketing, social media building, working from home, working outside the home, etc. Everyone is welcome, not just parents, so pass the word on!  If you haven’t started your biz yet, but need ideas, this would be great for you as well.  Our main goal is to support one another in this crazy journey we call business.

I would love to have you, please consider joining us!  If anything, you’ll love the Savvy Source website anyway, so win-win.

Again, you can join my Moms in Business group HERE.  See you there!

“Countdown to the Holidays” Giveaway – Week 8

::GIVEAWAY – WEEK 8 ::  GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!!  Congrats to Saph @ Frugal Wife Blog!

Wonderbar by Wonderful Wonderbar

The WONDERBAR, as the name suggests, is a revolutionary mixture of the Deep Moor from Austria and Chlorey’nahre, a proprietary ingredient in Wondeux products. When combined, these wonderful ingredients work their magic and do wonders on our skin!

The Wonderbar cleans, exfoliates and nourishes to promote clear, well-hydrated skin, much like a facial.  A facial is the second most popular spa service after the massage.  It is sometimes called “deep-cleansing” or “deep-pore cleansing” because of extractions.  It can be quite costly, especially as a monthly or weekly expense.  The Wonderbar does all of this for your skin every time you use it!  And all for just around a dollar a day……you can’t beat that.

Retail price: $40.00

This giveaway was made possible by Wonder Wonderbar, located at www.wonderfulwonderbar.com!

::HOW TO ENTER::

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment telling us why this would make a great holiday gift for someone you know, or for yourself! Make sure you leave your name and email address in the comment.

::EARN EXTRA ENTRIES::

Earn extra entries by leaving an extra comment for each:

• Blog about this giveaway. (link in comment)
• Subscribe to this site.
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Follow us on Google Friend Connect. (see widget on sidebar)
• Follow us on Facebook.
• Tweet about this giveaway:

Come enter the “Countdown to the Holidays” giveaway! New prizes every week! http://clicky.me/3C5 #giveaway #contest

Giveaway ends midnight CST on December 14, 2009. USA & Canada residents only please. Good luck!

BLOG – BID – HOPE

Introducing the NEW $1 Listing!

Mom Made That! is now offering a fourth listing package, called the $1 Listing!  A low risk listing for small budgets.

The $1 Listing includes one category, one 75 x 75 thumbnail image, one website link, one tag, and a one sentence description for only $1.00 a month.  This is a great listing package for mom businesses or blogs who have very low budgets, but want to pull up in our searches.  There is no front page exposure in this package, but participants can upgrade their listing plans any time.  The $1 Listing is only available through our subscription plan, but subscriptions can be canceled at any time!

See an example of this listing here.

Have more questions?  Email me at mommadethat@gmail.com.

—–>subscribe – $1/month

• one category
  
• one 75 x 75 thumbnail image
  
• one website link
• one tag
• one sentence description, no more than 15 words
  
• see example here, cancel subscription anytime
  

$1 Listing

$1 Listing

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