Moms In Business Unite: The Conference Series You Won’t Want To Miss!
Moms in Business Unite is all about promoting and support women and mom-owned businesses in the United States. This year they are offering five phenomenal conferences across the country to bring together business owners for a full-day educational experience! Complete with a keynote speaker, panel discusses, breakout sessions and more, this series is all about networking and taking your business to the next level!
MIBU invites you to take part in their incredible Inventor Showcase to find the best new product/service of the year! Here’s what you need to know:
Five to 10 women inventors local to each conference city (Atlanta, San Diego, Denver, Boston and Detroit) will be invited to showcase their new product or service and allow conference attendees to select the best new product or service of the year. Voting will occur at the conference, and the winner will be announced at the reception and in a post-conference press release. She will also be featured on the Moms in Business Unite website for a year.
Would you love to see a Mom Made That! mama win this competition? Amazing!
The fabulous folks at MIBU are also offering a special opportunity for business owners in San Diego and Boston with their new Mompreneur Grant!
For more info on the Inventor Showcase and Mompreneur Grant, please visit Moms in Business Unite.
How To Survive (And Thrive!) As A Work At Home Mom
Last week we chatted a bit about balance when it comes to life as a WAHM. After seeing some of your comments, I decided to stretch out my social media feelers to find out what some of my Twitter and Facebook pals had to offer in terms of advice for surviving (and thriving!) in a work from home environment.
Here’s what they had to say:
@MamaAndDoula tweeted: Set boundaries, many people assume I can drop my work to help them out, often I can but hate it being assumed, WAH is still work.
@gerlaugh offered: Set clear boundaries for work/play time, you’ll stress if you let that balance slide.
I’m sensing a trend! Boundaries (mental and physical) are certainly important to separating your mom-self and your business-self. While a mixing of the two is inevitable at some point, it’s best to keep them separate, but friendly! You don’t want your “selves” wrapped up in a struggle for attention.
@Bellabirth shared a tweet about just this: Time management! Set aside time to just do work and just do fam stuff, I got snowed when I intermingled the two.
It’s all about keeping a bit of distance between those two lives, yet doing so in a way which doesn’t create jealousy, frustration or resentment.
From Stephanie A: Have an office space with a door! And your PC should not function as a family comp. And make a to-do list each morning! These are my needs!
From Jill SK: Now that the kids are older, I have “office hours”… that means do not disturb mommy until 5:00 unless you or a sibling is on fire. Of course I am here if they need me, but they do not need to be under my feet every second of the day.
Another common theme that popped up was the idea of having an actual, physical space where you can can conduct your business, sans interruption. For example, in our house, my partner and I both share an office, and while our two year old isn’t 100% put off by a closed door, I can ofter hear her on the other side telling daddy, “Mama’s at work!”
A tip from Jill S: Have a schedule and a sense of humour….included in this schedule is when to STOP working each day – I find some nights I keep going after Charlie (daughter) goes to bed, rather than relaxing and taking time for me.
This piece of advice is so important. How many nights have you found yourself wide awake and working away into the wee hours of the morning? I know I’ve been guilty of this myself. Sometimes I feel as though I should be DOING something 24/7, and guilty if I sit down to spend time on myself instead. If you have to, ask your partner or a friend to talk to you, or call you, every now and again to say, “Sit down, have a cup of tea, enjoy a moment of quiet, read a favourite book, watch something mindless on TV.” We all deserve moments of nothingness. It’s good for the soul, and you’d be surprised how refreshed you feel after an hour (or 20 minutes!) of R&R.
One last bit of wisdom:
Lacey M says: Go with the flow! Or you’ll stress yourself out!
Absolutely!
As moms I think we try very hard to control certain aspects of our lives so that they don’t get out of hand,but all to often it’s the tight rein we’re struggling to maintain which ends up constricting us and sucking the enjoyment out of life!
Know that you’re doing your best and be forgiving if things don’t turn out perfectly. Remember that a being happy mama is one of the best gifts we can give our children! We want to look back at these years with happiness and satisfaction — no regrets, no “if only”s!
Take care of yourself, know when to create boundaries and when all else fails, keep smiling and don’t give up!
Wishing you all a fabulously productive day!
Share your WAHM savvy tips in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!
…
Desiree Fawn is a blogger/doula from Ontario where she lives with her partner & daughter.
She blogs at So Fawned.
Follow @sofawned on Twitter!
Photo via My Girl Thursday.
NEW Moms in Business Group on Savvy Source!
December 9, 2009 by MomMadeThat
Filed under Uncategorized
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!
Business Tips…by a new MomPreneur – PART I
August 27, 2009 by MomMadeThat
Filed under Uncategorized
Make Networking Meaningful
When I first started selling on Etsy, I noticed that a lot of other sellers mentioned teams in their shop announcements. Some people were on local “street teams” – others were on teams organized by craft. Artfire has something similar, called Guilds. I was looking for a way to get my name out there, so I decided to investigate.
One of the products I sell is personalized/initial jewelry for moms. So, I thought it would be only natural to seek out mom-related “teams” on Etsy – thinking I’d find my target market right there. And while I did learn some very interesting tips (I’ll be sharing one in particular in my next article!) the group itself wasn’t quite the right fit for me. So I sought out a few more.
Two months later, some of those groups STILL haven’t contacted me back. In the meantime, I’ve kept searching. One group got back to me right away – I jumped in, and I’m so glad I did.
When I set out to find a team on Etsy, I did it with sales and targeted audiences in mind. To date, I haven’t had any sales within my group (I did make one trade!) but I have gained so much more. Etsy’s Team CAC discussion thread is one of my first stops each morning and one of the last stops I make at the end of my day.
The reason I keep going back is that selling online is HARD WORK, but within that team I can find a great deal of support and feedback. There are people there who I can celebrate with when I do get sales, and people who can pick me back up when I’m feeling discouraged. And we’re ALL thinking of ways to support and promote each other – something you definitely need to succeed when you’re selling online.
Getting into a team, guild or group is something I’d recommend to any online seller. Here are my suggestions for making it work for you:
- If you’re on Etsy or Artfire, start with their internal message boards. The people there know exactly what you’re going through.
- If you’re solo, check out Yahoo! Groups, Café Handmade, Ning and other social networking sites. If you have a suggestion for a site not mentioned here, put it in the comments so others can find it!
- Shop around. Check out multiple groups. You may not find your fit right away.
- Remember, it’s a TWO-WAY (or four-way…or ten-way…conversation). You can’t just drop in, promote yourself, and walk out and wait for the sales. If you only talk about yourself, you’re really just teaching people to ignore your posts.
- Remember that age-old rule from junior high – if you want to make friends, you have to BE a friend. It’s very, very easy to feel ignored online. Don’t take it personally! You have to work at your online friendships, just as you would in your “real-world” ones.
When it comes to networking through teams, groups and guilds, the payoff can be much more rewarding than money. You can find mentoring relationships, emotional support, honest feedback and plenty of other value that make message boards worth your time. Just make sure to budget your time – so that your chatting doesn’t take away from your business.
Heck, you might even find some sales. While I haven’t sold to the people I’ve networked with, I have bought from them. And when Christmas comes around, I already know where I’m getting a lot of gifts. Because I know the person behind the shop, I can’t wait until I have the chance to support them.
Kristin Walters is a writer, crafter, and mother. Her shop, www.one9designs.etsy.com combines her passion for all three. Check out that site for personalized, hand-stamped sterling silver word jewelry in creative inspirational and family-related designs.
