A WAHPing Christmas by Support a WAHP

A WAHPing Christmas

Join us in supporting

Issue 2.0, November 20, 2012

meet our 2012

Top WAHPs

Win a Mobile Website with GoMoSoLo.com FLYING SOLOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SAM LEADER ON How to Talk POWERFULLY About Your Business

S U L P

HOW BUSINESSES HAVE PULLED TOGETHER in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Inside: Restore your SANITY while running your solo business

For each new member who joins Support a WAHP from November 21 to Dec 7, we’ll donate $20 to

You’ve got a Facebook Page, a website and a dream... now what?

Become a member to rock your WAH Business! www.supportawahp.com/become-a-member

Editor’s Note...

A WAHPing

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since our first Christmas e-mag was published!

Christmas

For me, it’s been an incredible year of growth, both personally and professionally.

Running your own business (or three in my case) is like that, isn’t it? I’ve had moments where I’ve felt like an utter failure and moments of pure exhilaration. There’s been faux pas and high fives and everything in between. What has stood out for me the most has been the comraderie with other business owners within Support a WAHP’s own member community as well as in other communities I’ve been involved with. Facebook may change the ball game on us a million times, but it can’t take away the amazing sense of community that comes from networking online.

We continue to have a strong WAHP community with approx 15,000 people accessing Support a WAHP across social media, our website and mailing list. Like everyone else, we’ve had to adapt to the changes brought about by the Timeline and edgerank algorithm over the past year. Outside of Facebook, the Support a WAHP website has moved to a new, faster server and has had a face lift. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go and have a look.

I’d like to extend my thanks to Rodney Bukuya, Karen Gunton, Nic Jones, Amanda Foy, Lucie Battaini, and Anne Maybus for stepping up and providing consistently good blog posts throughout the year. If blogging is your thing and you have something to share, please contact me to ask about joining our guest blogging team. If you write about working from home and running a small business, social media and

Features Interview with Karen Gunton................... 4 Talk powerfully about your business........ 6 Oh Sandy! Why did you have to be so mean?...................................................... 10

marketing, I’d love to hear from you.

Also this year, I started blogging regularly for Startup Smart, which has been a terrific opportunity to reach and serve more WAHPs.

With four blogs to keep on top of, I’ve had to enlist support on our Facebook page and I’d like to thank the wonderful WAHPs who’ve volunteered their time as page admins over the past year: Belinda Milne, Lucie Battaini, Tracey Stewart, Stacey Myers and Jenni Dinsdale.

I can hardly wait for the New Year to start as I have big plans for 2013 that involve working with other small businesses on how to use content and social media to reach their ideal clients. I’m also rewriting my book and my goal for 2013 is to get out to networking events a bit more often to connect with other solo business owners in real life. Mid 2013 the plan is to hit the road with my family for an extended trip but the beauty of working from home is that you can work from literally anywhere. I can’t wait to blog about our adventures.

This year has not been without its challenges. Overall though, I think we’ve much to celebrate. International Work At Home Person week was a big success with some fantastic media coverage! And our Top WAHP Awards are the only awards recognising WAHPs internationally. Most awards are country specific.

Want to run a Facebook Competition this Christmas?................................................ 12 Four proven ways to restore your sanity while running your solo business............ 14 Interview with Amanda Jesnoewski ......... .................................................................. 16 2012 Christmas Gift Guide...................... 18 WAHPs: The true trailblazers................... 24 Interview with Alana Jones.................... 26 How to make a business out of social media....................................................... 28 Interview with Felicity O’Donohue........ 30 Are you scared to go mobile................ 32 Top Eight Socially Savvy Ways to Find “Goldie Oldie” Friends Online....... 34

You may or may not know that Support a WAHP is a crowd-funded network. So, if you’re considering joining as a member or advertising on our website, know that whatever contribution you make helps keep this community going for the benefit of all.

The more people we have involved, the more we can do to support everyone and get the word out there that WAHPs rock and matter! Enjoy this second edition of A WAHPing Christmas! It’s been a pleasure to put it together and we have had amazing contributions from across the globe.

Here’s to an inspiring & successful 2013.

Cas McCullough Certified Doula CD(DONA), Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Strategist & Mentor, Author & Mum @casmccullough

About the Contributors Sam Leader @sam_leader Sam Leader is the Editor in Chief of Flying Solo, Australia’s micro business community, and one of its three directors. She is also the co-author, with Robert Gerrish and Peter Crocker, of the business bestseller Flying Solo How to go it alone in business. Sam’s responsible “...for all the book’s good bits.”

Sam lives in northern New South Wales with her partner John-Paul and their daughters, Amy and Eleanor. She keeps her mojo high by building sandcastles, looking in rockpools and making pizzas. Sam and her family recently welcomed the arrival of their new baby! Sabrina Espinol @sabrinacompany Sabrina Espinal is a certified Social Media Strategist and the founder of Sabrina&Company Marketing. She has a passion for technology, couture fashion and dancing. Sabrina lives in New York City with her husband Pedro and their socially active dog, Chavez. Find Sabrina on Facebook here: http://www.facebook. com/sabrinacompany

Sadie-Michaela Harris @SadieMHarris Digital Marketing Strategist and founder of the UK-based marketing agency GoMoSoLo. com and French based iLocalSearch.net.A bilingual business owner, Sadie-Michaela currently lives in France, avoids cooking, and drinks champagne. She’s frequently found at gigs and in festival fields and is an active supporter of the international charity Peace One Day. Find Sadie-Michaela on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/SadieMHarris The Dalai-Nana Maryn Williams @marynwilliams The Dalai-Nana evolved from a conversation with her granddaughter and a realization that many people over the age of 50 simply did not understand the world their grandchildren were living in. The Dalai-Nana gives grandparents more ways to be part of the lives of their grandchildren and share their knowledge in a way that the kids can relate.

Maryn is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a daughter and a friend. Maryn loves to eat but hates to cook, loves to be in nature but doesn’t like to do much, likes to read but rarely finds the time, has been married forever, sometimes wonders why, but always loves it, is very proud of her children and has the world’s BEST grandchildren.

Maryn is an accomplished executive in the corporate world with over 25 years in marketing and operational leadership positions and a successful entrepreneur. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Several years ago she recognized that the future of marketing was through the internet so in 2003 she and her partner joined a global network of consultants and began a learning journey through the ever changing digital maze. Find Maryn on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dalai-Nana/254834137909182

www.supportawahp.com

Eden Rudin @mysocialgarden Eden Rudin fell in love with Social Media in 2008 when she began using it for her brick and mortar ice cream store, Scoops. As sales and foot traffic increased due to Facebook and Twitter, she began asking every small business she came in contact with if they ‘had their business on Facebook,’ and when people saw her excitement and passion for what she was experiencing, they hired her to get/keep their business ‘social’ and thus she became a social media manager. After mentoring five others on starting a Social Media Manager business, Eden decided it was time to put together a comprehensive training course to teach people all over the world. Eden will be offering a fast track training course as well as a more intensive certification course. You can find out more information at www.ultimatesocialmediatraining.com. Find Eden on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/thesocialgarden

Sally Thibault @SallyThibault Sally Thibault is an Asperger’s expert, author, counsellor, speaker and media commentator. She has featured regularly on national television, radio and print publications. She works with universities, parents, teacher and specialists to understand the challenges ASD children and their families face, particularly during the school years. Find Sally here:

http://www.davidsgift.com.au http://www.facebook.com/aspergersparentconnect http://www.facebook.com/SallyThibault

Donna Hamer @Donna_Hamer Donna Hamer has been working as a business consultant to SMEs for 15 years. In 2010 she was forced to look at social media sites as a way to grow her businesses. Now an expert on Facebook Contests, this year. Donna co-developed and launched a Facebook Contest App and also began specializing in training businesses on the use of Facebook Promotions as a way to grow their pages and businesses. Donna also released “Kick Start Your Promotions with a Facebook Contest” which ranked as #1 Kindle Book for Web Marketing. Donna and her family live on the beautiful Sunshine Coast where they enjoy the blissful beach lifestyle while working from a home base. Find Donna on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/fanpagecompetitions Terri Zwierzynski @TerriZSoloCEO

Terri is known as Terri Z, The Solo-CEO! She’s been a WAH solo entrepreneur for over 10 years, which helps her balance work with her life as a wife, mom of two teenagers (and two dogs), and singer (barbershop 4-part a capella). When Terri started out as a solo entrepreneur, there were few resources specifically for solo business owners (no employees), and lots of dubious, hype-y internet marketing websites and products. Solo-E was designed to help solo entrepreneurs find experts they can trust, who offer time-tested guidance on how to be a successful solopreneur.

Find Terri on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/SoloEntrepreneurLifestyle 3

Meet this year’s Overall Top WAHP Award Winner

Karen Gunton Tell us about your business— what do you do? My mission is helping women in biz make their little businesses SHINE! By this I mean: share what they do

confidently & enthusiastically, stand out with their brand, genuinely

connect with their right people,

feel authentic when marketing, and mostly have FUN doing business. I

am a brainstormer, an unstucktor, a teacher, a designer, and a champion of women in biz. I help women in

biz in a number of ways—one-on-

one sessions, email brainstorming, 4

online workshops, a membership

site, ebooks (7 now!) and creative

more. I tried doing a party plan

for nearly 2.5 years.

but party plan sales was not at all

design services for visual marketing.  Build a Little Biz has been running

Why did you to decide to run your own business from home? My *first* career was as a middle

school science teacher (teaching is in my blood!) but when I had my

first baby and moved to Australia from Canada, I decided to take a

break from teaching. I loved being a stay at home mum but quickly

discovered that I needed something

business, which taught me that

I loved having my own little biz, my thing. Then I sort of fell into

having a photography business. I

had no idea how to have a biz from home and sort-of stumbled along with it on my own until deciding

to get serious about it. I sunk my

teeth into learning about home biz, and rebranded/re-launched my

photography biz to great success.

In the meantime, I started teaching

what I was learning to other women in biz and that is when Build a Little www.supportawahp.com

Biz came to life. I have since closed

and more fun. Building a biz will

I know that everything I have done

in, but when I keep my spark at the

the door on my photography biz so I can concentrate on my true calling. up till now has lead me to this - my passion!

What do you love most about running your own business? I get to combine my own strengths & passions to offer something

of value to some very incredible women. It is the most amazing

thing, finding that sweet spot. To

get to do what you love and be of service and earn a living.... what

could be better? I also like that I am my own boss so I am in charge of

my present and future - the sky is

the limit, truly (and that also means I get the freedom to still be a stay at home mum!)

What has been the biggest challenge for you in running your own business? How have you tackled this challenge? What have you learned? Hmmmm - I think the biggest challenge has to be all those

feelings of doubt and confusion and comparison. With my photography biz I used to get stuck all the time,

feeling like I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t compete with

others in my niche, feeling like I was just spinning my wheels, feeling

like I would never stand out & be

valued. I have learned that the first

always be a lot of work, and those negative mindsets still can creep centre of everything I do, I have

the enthusiasm and energy to keep marching on my specific path. I

know that what I am doing now is of immense value to my right people. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awesome!

How do you market your business on and offline? When I started Build a Little Biz it was just a little side thing. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

go into it with a mind to market it. I shared something of genuine value,

and aimed to be as helpful as I could possibly be. I authentically believed

in what I was doing and that made it very easy to talk about it and share

- and my Facebook page is where it all started. It has grown to 7700+ fans organically. My marketing

mindset has not changed since then. I still aim to offer genuine help and immense value and everything is

driven by passion and excitement. I still use Facebook along with

Twitter and Pinterest (which has been a huge source of traffic for

me!). Blogging and guest blogging, email marketing, and social media are the three main spokes to my marketing strategy.

If you could give another WAHP just one tip, what would it be?

step in tackling this is to hone in

Find your spark & hang on to it.

& service that you bring to your

excited about, all of your marketing

on your own spark - that unique

combination of passion, strength

biz - your own magic recipe! Once I found my spark, everything else became easier, more authentic

When you have something you

can stand for, or believe in, or get

and biz building becomes so much easier. You can add new products, find new people who care about

Business Name Build a Little Biz Website buildalittlebiz.com Facebook /buildalittlebiz Twitter @karengunton Pinterest /karengunton Google+ @karengunton Location I live in Adelaide, Australia, and also spend part of my time in BC, Canada. My business is international. I work with people locally, all around Australia, and a few around the world too! what you do, evolve your biz, adapt and change and still feel confident about what you offer the world. There is no better time to build a little biz. The world is at our

fingertips and the possibilities are endless, but it takes a lot of hard

work, time, money and tenacity to

make it a success. So get clear about why you care about this, why it

matters to people. Find your spark, be genuine, and be of service. The rest will still be hard work, but it will feel doable.

How to TALK POWERFULLY about your business By Sam Leader

Whenever you meet someone, whether it is at a professional networking function or a Sunday barbecue, you are likely to be asked “What do you do?”

If you have a job at a large company, describing your role may be enough. However, if you do take the plunge and start your own business, every time this question is raised you have an opportunity to talk powerfully

and spread the word about your business.

Yet for many, talking powerfully means launching into a lengthy monologue in a bid to reveal how much they know about their business.

A better approach is to explain what you do using straightforward language and spare your audience the technical jargon. It’s your best shot at making it meaningful to

people who otherwise have little or no concept of your business.

Let’s take the owner of a landscape design company as an example. If, when asked about her business by someone she has never met, she claims ‘we are environmental specialists concerned with horticultural planning and its impact on global sustainability’ she can expect to draw a blank look from the befuddled stranger. If, however, she states ‘We help people www.supportawahp.com

make the most of their gardens by the creative use of plants and outdoor furniture’ she is infinitely more likely to draw a response of ‘That sounds interesting. How do you do that?’

Her straightforward explanation has earned her the interest of her audience. At their invitation, she is then able get a bit more technical. She has been heard and understood. Don’t mistake this approach as over-simplified. Dumbing down is super-smart because it is more likely to resonate with people with little or no understanding of your field of expertise.

To make sure you don’t waste the business opportunities open to you at gatherings, you need to grasp how to talk powerfully about your business.

What exactly does ‘talking powerfully’ mean?

tell other people what you do and before long coffee shop owners will be heading his way. In the second, he’s talking in terms of processes, which is pretty dull and meaningless to the listener. It is far better to be heard well by one person, than forgotten by five hundred. Just ask Pauline, who shares her cringe-worthy experience in this brief incident report.

I thought I was all ready to go. I’d done all the preparation, printed my letterheads and cards and was ready to launch my software design

“It is far better to be heard well by one person, than forgotten by five hundred.”

At the heart of the concept are two principles: being heard and being understood.

To be heard, you need to introduce your business so that it elicits a genuine reaction of ‘Oh, how do you do that?’ or ‘That sounds interesting, tell me more.’ You want your listener to be the one who invites you to get into the meaty side of what you do, rather than tell them all about it regardless of whether or not they want to hear it. The secret to earning their interest is to target your language and concepts for their benefit. When Fred uses the opener ‘My business makes widgets that make café owner’s coffee machines percolate at twice the speed’ it has way more impact than ‘We make rapid infusion motors for coffee machines’. In the first statement, he’s framed his offering in terms of easily-understood results. Even if the person he’s talking to isn’t his ideal client or customer, he or she has the knowledge they need to

nothing about your business. Pauline failed on this count and admits, too, to trying to impress her audience with technical lingo. Instead of impressing her audience, she alienated them.

Treat your audience as if they are obligated to decode the technical side of your business and you will lose them in moments. It is possible to get others interested in what you do behind the scenes, though, by initially couching what you do in as broadly understood terms as possible. Try this technique: rehearse words that can be easily grasped by an eight year old. That’s right, a young child. This will preclude the use of jargon and demand that your language be clear, straightforward and interesting.

Creating a powerful capabilities statement

Let’s look at ways Pauline can ensure that next time she talks about her business, she is both heard and understood:

1. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes business to the world. At my first public airing, I messed up big time. I was at an industry convention where, in one of the breakout sessions, I was invited to stand-up and briefly describe who I was and what I did. After what seemed like hours I was asked politely to sit down. At the break, a man from the audience approached me thinking I was a web designer. I was devastated. Pauline had an opportunity to talk powerfully about her business and blew it. Why? Because no-one understood a word she said! She made the all too common mistake of assuming what she wanted to say was the same as what people wanted to hear. To be understood, you need to make what you do meaningful to people who know

We asked Pauline, who her dream clients would be and she described them as ‘managers of independent call centres’. Next, we asked her to imagine she was just such a manager. What might a call centre manager say that would indicate a need for Pauline’s services? Here is her suggestion:

“I can’t believe how frequently the details we have on-screen are at odds with what the caller is saying. Yesterday I took four pages of written notes because there wasn’t a section on the database to accommodate the information. I felt so silly. The caller was waiting for ages while I tried to track down the answer. I mean, who designed this program?!”

Here’s what we got Pauline to do next. 2. Earn interest with the way you speak Having clarified how her ideal client may open up an opportunity to ‘talk business’ Pauline is ready to craft a ‘capabilities statement’ for her business that she knows will earn their interest. A capabilities statement is a succinct means of talking about what you do and who you do it for. It’s no more than a few sentences in length. Here’s what it comprises:

• A personal introduction.

• A brief product or service overview.

• An indication of who uses your product or service i.e. your dream client or ideal target market.

• The burning issues you address. • The outcomes of your work.

• Things that make you different from your competitors.

With the possible exception of highly technical, specialised businesses, your capabilities statement should be easily understood by complete strangers… and children. Once you have started to clarify the component parts, the task is to weave these into a language and format that enables you to make a powerful statement.

Let’s run Pauline’s business through this exercise:

My name’s Pauline Ford [personal introduction] I run a software design business [product or service overview] working closely with call centre managers [ideal target market]. We create software that gives call centre operators all the info they need right at their

fingertips [burning issues]. As a result of our services, call centres not only operate more efficiently, but staff are much happier [outcomes].

What makes us different from our competitors is that we monitor usage and behaviour very closely and introduce improvements before being asked! [competitor differentiation]

In the profile of her business, Pauline has addressed every one of the concerns raised by her dream client in the imaginary conversation. Now all she needs to do is get the ear of any call centre manager, or anyone who knows one, and business opportunities will fall into her lap. Talking powerfully need not be difficult, but it does take focus and preparation. Now it’s time to boil down your message even further.

Developing your elevator statement

An elevator statement is a short, snappy, abbreviated version of your capabilities statement. It gets its name by virtue of the fact that it can be passed on in the time it takes an elevator to ride between floors. You meet someone in the elevator on the ground floor, they leave on the first floor knowing what your business does and who for.

Now for an elevator statement to really work it needs to offer a memorable answer to the ‘What do you do?’ question. Let’s look at a few responses that will quickly be forgotten:

‘My name’s John, I’m an accountant.’ Sorry John, way too forgettable!

‘My name’s John. My business helps your company pay less tax and retain more profit.’ Mmmm, now you’re talking!

‘Hello I’m Susan, I’m a massage therapist.’ Yawn. Try again, Susan.

‘Hello I’m Susan, I relax busy people and take their stresses away.’ Much better.

Get the idea? An elevator statement does not and cannot say everything. Ideally it makes an impact and elicits the reaction ‘how do you do that?’ or ‘tell me more!’ Small business owners can use elevator statements in a number of applications. It can be used in conversation, as part of your email signature, as a headline on your website or as a tagline for use on your brochures and business cards. Crafting an elevator statement can take time, so it’s important you don’t rush it. Practice your words on a friend or colleague and ensure the final version sits well with you. An ill-fitting elevator statement is like an ill-fitting suit… you’ll feel uncomfortable and look a bit silly.

Writing your marketing material

Using a business capabilities statement and elevator statement as a starting point, this information can be expanded out into a longer written description of your business.

The resulting text can then be adapted and used consistently across all your marketing material, including sales pitches, brochures, emails, proposals and your website. When writing about your business for the benefit of potential customers, there are some fundamental things people want to know first before they’ll be willing to consider a purchase.

Before doing anything else to detail your various products and services, you need to make sure that you quickly answer the following questions for your prospects in plain English: www.supportawahp.com

• What do you do? (products and services)

Working solo? You’re not alone.

• Who for? (target audience)

• Why should they care about what you’ve got to say? (benefits)

• What makes your business so special? (differentiation) • Why would they believe you? (evidence)

• What exactly do you want them to do? (call to action)

Some clear and concise language covering off these essential questions in terms anyone can understand is the minimum platform you need to engage people in your business and delve into the detail of how you might be able to meet their particular needs.

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Tone and branding

Beyond getting the basics right, you need to make sure that your writing and talking reflects the brand of your business, your people and the experience you provide for your customers.

Large corporations have teams of people that sit down in business branding sessions and strategise over what sort of ‘person’ they will be this year. The problem is, that unless this personality and attitude is present in all areas of the business it just doesn’t work. It’s the same with small business branding. All the super-smiley, ‘we care about you’ advertisements become completely hollow if you are then treated badly by the company on the phone or in person. This is because what their marketing messages try and have you believe and the reality, are simply poles apart.

As a small business owner, you need to look at your prospective business and ask what type of ‘person’ it is likely to be. Then it’s a matter of letting this natural personality come across in your marketing, written communication and in person. It’s not always trying too hard that is the problem. Sometimes behind the stiff, formal language in a proposal or on a website, you’ll find an energetic bunch of people who are fun and inspiring. Getting more personality into your own presentations and marketing material is not as hard at might sound.

Try this experiment. When you have some content written - whether for a website or a flyer perhaps, read it aloud as if you were explaining to a friend what your business does. Does it sound natural? Are you cringing? Would your friend be wondering where the ‘real’ you went? Next, strip out the corporate speak and impersonal language and boil your message down into plain English. You’ll know it’s right when you can read it out aloud comfortably.

Whether a customer is spending time on your website, reading your brochure, or listening to you talk at a conference, it should be evident that you know your stuff and talk about it in a way you understand.

Cutting through the clutter

To get noticed, small business owners should use targeted marketing and be specific with their message. A business stands the best chance of being remembered when others understand what you do and are able to talk easily about your work to others. Too often this simply is not the case. Messages frequently suffer from being too complex or, at the other end of the spectrum, too general. Messages should be tailored to specific people to really grab attention. So how do you go about finding the right words? The answer is: Listen to your clients. Ask them what they really get as an outcome of your work and start to talk in these terms.

Use straightforward, clear language and keep it brief. Don’t get knotted up in technical processes. In the end, people really just want to know how you can help them.

going to be that big of a deal. After all, it was coming all the way from the Caribbean and then heading

up the east coast. What were the

chances that it would actually find and hit New York City?

Well, I had a funny feeling that there was a big chance it would land in New York City. So, not only did I start hauling home cans of tuna

fish, batteries, candles and bottled water but I started thinking about how my company would survive

the storm. The biggest threat to my

business was going to be the loss of

electricity and the loss of an internet connection.

Oh Sandy! Why did you have to be so mean?

New York WAHP Sabrina Espinal on how to run your business when disaster strikes. Running my social media business is like a well-rehearsed and beautiful dance, smoothly turning, gliding

and grooving through the day. It’s

exciting, rewarding and it’s always a good day at Sabrina&Company Marketing.

Everything was just humming

along…and then Mother Nature 10

stepped into the picture with a

mean super storm, also known as,

I immediately decided to get a plan together!

My disaster plan list • A “power station” that you

charge for 36 hours and then it supplies low wattage recharge power for a few days.

• A “wireless hot spot” on my

iPhone with my Verizon cell phone service.

• An extra charger case for my iPhone.

• An extra charger case for my husband’s iPhone.

Hurricane Sandy.

• A 50 gig “wireless hot spot”

New York City. Many people forget

• A transistor radio and batteries

Hurricanes aren’t supposed to hit that New York City is an island,

especially since it is tucked away between bigger pieces of land.

So, when the information about

Hurricane Sandy was on the news, most people didn’t believe it was

from T-Mobile.

•

My computer, iPad and iPhone

100% charged

• Quick email marketing to all my clients to let them know that I www.supportawahp.com

their neighborhood. Of course, I got that message out on Facebook and Twitter.

One of my clients is a morning radio

personality. Despite the fact that the radio station lost power for a week, she continued to work (with the

help of a generator) and kept people informed of what was going on in a world without electricity. I was

able to listen to her on my transistor radio and post the Sandy aftermath updates on her social networks.

One lucky restaurant client received electricity after five days, and was able to open with lights, heat and really great handmade bagels.

Their phones were out and they This is my client Christine Nagy at work at the radio station 106.7 Lite FM. No heat, little light and powered by a generator. This was on Nov 2 which was four days after the storm. You can see how cold she is. Image courtesy of 106.7 Lite FM

might lose power but I would be online working for them.

as we communicated through text

It happened

messages. All of my clients in the

I was hoping for the best and

of them were without electric and

nervous for the worst. And then,

around 7pm on Monday night, the power went out. The nightmare

of Sandy and her destruction had

begun. The devastation was across

path of Sandy lost power and were impacted by the destruction. All

other basic utilities for at least five days.

Business after Sandy and loving my clients

multiple states and continued

My restaurant clients worked

New York alone has been estimated

opening without phones, internal

through the night into the next day. The cost of damages to the State of to be around $30 billion dollars.

And the social media continued

I remained dedicated to updating my client’s social media accounts

closely with me as they went

through multiple phases of re-

systems, credit card machines and so much more.

One bar owner client opened

without power and just grilled

hotdogs on the street and gave

them away to hungry people in

could only take cash, but they were busy. The restaurant became the

neighborhood comfort location for

people to stop by, get warm and talk about living without electricity and life after Sandy.

Personally, I did not have electricity and heat for five days but I stayed focused on taking care of myself,

my family and my business. Once

my “power station” was drained, I

ventured to places that allowed me to recharge my electrical devices and continue to work.

I’m so proud of my clients that made the decision to focus on others and not on their core

business. I’m elated that I have been able to support them in every phase of super storm Sandy and their

continued struggle with recovery. My clients and I have grown so

much closer as we learned a new and unexpected dance together.

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2. Decide on the type of competition you are going to run

1. Establish a goal Why are you d oing this? Is it to gain new customers, reward your e xisting ones, get your busin ess seen or what? By esta blishing a go al you can then measure the success of you r competition .

Rule 101...Keep it Simple!! A sweepstake is one of the easiest competitions to setup and enter. All your entrants need to do is provid their name and email. Never expect people t jump through hoops for a $15 gift card. This will lower the number of people who enter and ultimately affect the end result of you competition.

www.supportawahp.com

r prize u o y n o de 3. Deci d that n e m m o nally rec ize that o s r e p I y a pr a w a e v i iness. s u you g b r u ts yo ady represen o enter are alre s h es People w ” in your busin ted the “interes f o d n e he n then a c and at t u o y ition, m for e h t compet o t offer ces. i v r make an e s d ods an your go

4. Setting up your competit ion

d de to

5. Ru nning

your

MAKE SURE y ou read Facebo ok's Promotion Guidelines and al follow them. By third party Co using a ntest App you will have already compl ied with three out of the sev guidelines. Th en ere are many apps available the marketplac on e starting from as little as $15 per campaign up to $250 de pending on th your use. Nex e app t, make sure you follow y local promotio ou r nal rules. In A ustralia, each has different State rules and regu lations and th will affect the ese type of compe tition you offe Same in the U r. SA.

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proven ways to

restore your sanity

while running your solo business by Terri Zwierzynski

www.supportawahp.com

It’s a familiar scenario: Solo business owner is swamped just wading through emails, keeping up with social media, serving customers. No time to create new products or work on that marketing campaign. Is this you? If so, I have four proven ways that successful solo entrepreneurs use to wrestle back control of their business, get the daily job done and still have time to grow their businesses.

Tame your inbox

Email is probably the number one task that sucks up our time. Answering customer questions, reading newsletters, responding to joint venture requests, communicating with your support team -- it can add up to dozens of emails seemingly needing your instant attention. And even if you clear your inbox in the morning, new emails come in hourly that can distract you from tasks that require concentrated attention. Ways to take control of your inbox:

Unsubscribe from half of the newsletters you are currently getting, starting with the ones that you haven’t had a chance to read in the last few months. If they were important to your business efforts now, you’d be reading them. You can always sign up again later. Deal immediately with items you can delegate, respond to in less than two minutes, or file away. Set up filters to put certain emails into different folders. Gmail makes this easy. Client emails in one folder, newsletters in another, to-dos in a third. Keep your inbox focused on

items you need to deal with this week.

Check your inbox twice a day, and turn it off the rest of the time. This allows you to focus on other work without the distraction of incoming emails. [Disclosure: It’s great advice although I find it hard to follow myself!]

“Too many times we set artificial deadlines for ourselves and then stick with those deadlines, pushing through when we are struggling to concentrate...resulting in less than our best work. ” Use social media tools to schedule your tweets and Facebook posts One of the keys to successful use of social media is to post updates at the times your audience is most likely to see them. But this doesn’t mean you have to be on Twitter and Facebook every hour. There are many tools that allow you to pre-schedule both tweets and status updates, minimizing your actual time attending to your social media efforts. My favorite tools are Hootsuite and Pluggio. My virtual assistant uses Hootsuite once a week to pre-schedule posts that I put out regularly and I also use it to automatically tweet new blog posts, YouTube videos and more (via the RSS Feed functionality.) I use Pluggio to pre-schedule tweets on a daily

basis -- I can sit down and in one session schedule retweets, answer questions and thank those who have mentioned me, without flooding the tweet stream with a dozen posts in a short amount of time. And Facebook now lets you schedule status updates to publish at a later time/day.

Go with the flow

Some days, you just don’t feel like working on the items on your todo list. Other times, you may find yourself up in the wee hours of the morning, on a roll. GO WITH IT. If you find yourself stuck (and there is nothing you really have to do right now, go for a walk, take a nap, play hooky and go shopping. Too many times we set artificial deadlines for ourselves. We then stick with those deadlines, pushing through when we are struggling to concentrate. This makes the task take far longer than necessary, and sometimes results in less than our best work. Be flexible with yourself and your deadlines (isn’t that why we are solo business owners?) I guarantee that when you are truly ready to tackle that task, it will go more smoothly.

Mistakes are okay

One of my favorite sayings is: “If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t moving fast enough.” It doesn’t have to be perfect, whether it is an email, a newsletter, a product, or a marketing campaign. Business owners tend to have exceptionally high standards for themselves, but are very understanding and forgiving when others make mistakes. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Get it done, get it out there; you can always fix any missteps later.

Meet this year’s Top WAHP Blog Award Winner

Amanda Jesnoewski Tell us about your business— what do you do? About my blog... Adventures and Misadventures of a Mummypreneur is a memoir on marriage, munchkins, meetings and the inevitable mayhem that comes with it, offering practical tips on running a business with babies, toddlers and kids. About my business...

At Velocity Media we write to sell. We don’t just put together cleverly crafted copy, we utilize neuromarketing techniques that appeal to the ‘buy buttons’ of your target market. We have made the psychology of buying our lifelong passion so that every word we write for you is designed to generate results.

Why did you to decide to run your own business from home? In addition to the flexibility that comes from owning your own business and being passionate about writing, I founded Velocity Media after noticing numerous business owners were struggling to articulate their value and generate sales from their marketing material.   In regards to my blog, I started Adventures and Misadventures of a Mummypreneur as a light-hearted, practical, real-life guide to balancing business and kids. As wonderful as being a mumpreneur or dadpreneur can be, it can also come with its share of challenges and sometimes it can be quite isolating. Through

my blog I aim to help other parents by showing them they aren’t alone, give them a bit of a laugh through my adventures (and more so misadventures) and offer some hints and tips to help them deal with the juggle of everyday life.

What do you love most about running your own business?

I love the challenge, the responsibility and most of all the flexibility. I get to be on hand to watch my kids grow, reach their milestones, look after them while they are sick and be there whenever they need or want me around, without having to answer to anyone else. I also get to do what I love, have a fulfilling career, help support my family and feel like I’m making a difference. www.supportawahp.com

What has been the biggest challenge for you in running your own business? How have you tackled this challenge? What have you learned? My greatest challenge would have to be the work and family juggle. With one area of my life always needing me more it’s impossible to consistently maintain balance. Though, I have found a few ways to help manage this more successfully.  When I work through the day while my kids are awake, I break up my work into blocks (30 minutes on and 30 minutes off – and try for more if I can) this way I still have quality time with my kids while getting some work done. I tend to leave my high-concentration work for nap times or evenings after I have spent some time with my husband. I make better use of the time and energy I put into my business by looking for ways to streamline and systemise my tasks, outsource them completely, or leverage off others by providing an incentive (like forming strategic alliances or creating joint promotional opportunities). I also find it helps to have set times for each of my roles so I know exactly where I am meant to be, and if something goes haywire, I know exactly where I need to make the time up.

How do you market your business on and offline?

There are a number of ways I market my business. By far, my most successful marketing strategy is forming strategic alliances— developing mutually beneficial business relationships with businesses who have my clients before and after me.

Business Name Velocity Media + Communications Blog Adventures and Misadventures of a Mummypreneur Location Brisbane, Queensland Website www.mummypreneurs.com.au Facebook Business Page /mummypreneur Twitter Profile /mummypreneurs LinkedIn /velocitymedia Pinterest /mummypreneur

I am also very active on social media, an avid networker, have done public speaking engagements, regularly guest post/blog on other sites including Flying Solo and Start Up Smart and regularly respond to publicity opportunities via sites like sourcebottle.com.

If you could give another WAHP just one tip, what would it be?

Be very clear on why you are going into business, what your priorities are and also what your non-negotiables are (i.e. no work between the hours of 5pm and 7pm as it is family time). It can be so easy to get caught up in work and lose sight of why you went into business in the first place. That is why it is important to establish boundaries from the very beginning and stick to them.

Mumm y Teddy ’s Wish Bear C hristm a

ampa ign Buy a tal k in g t h is C hristm teddy bea r bring a joy to s and k with s ick mu ids ms

$29.50

buys tw Teddy o voice-rec o B in you ears: one fo rdable r li r child o fe and anoth the child f a mu m with er for a Order cance r. online store.m at ummy swish Christm .org.a a Saturd s orders m u us ay 8 D ecemb t close 5pm er 201 2.

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rg.au

: bscription 2 month Su y step 1 s e iti tiv f step b y Craft Ac months o source Boxed Pla cess to 12 c ith a full re a w s , e ts d c lu je ro Inc p ustralia ft (A ra r o C your do Art and to ’s n d re re e ild Enter h liv ). C de (save $40 ft supplies rice: $255 pply. P a s. box of cra s th n n o o iti ery 3 m ut. Cond ko c e h c Wide) ev t ve $40” a code: “Sa

Personalised Typographic Poster (500 x 700mm) by Five Past Seven. $70.00, plus $7.00 postage (within Australia). (Frame not included)

Exquisit

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dmade Kids Pe ncil Ca by Stitc se Pouc h Bug. h $20

Editor’s Pick www.supportawahp.com

acelets

s Br and Children’ ling Silver Baby er St n lia Ita d Handcrafte s. $46.59 by Baby Jewel

Mee IttyBitty t Annabelle, a Doll by AllyBee custom made availab Designs. Itty Bitty do le from lls $55.

2012 Editor’s Pick

Handmade Charm Bra celet Sweet. $25 children’s siz by Girlylicious Oh-Soe / $35 wo mens size.

Christmas Bells Gift Hamper by Signed Sealed Delivered. $42

Child Name Prints - 30x40cm printed on 200gsm art board, ready to frame by Media Freedom Graphics. $18 each

Love About My Home prints - 30x40cm - printed on 200gsm art board, ready to frame by Media Freedom Graphics. $18 each

Musie J Photography, Natalie Souprounovich Design Services and Crumbs of Comfort Cake Design have joined forces to create a beautiful 12 month calendar to raise funds for Coeliac Queensland. The calendar will feature a delicious mouth watering photograph for each month and 4 gluten free recipes. All proceeds raised from the sale of the calendar will be donated to Coeliac Queensland. $20 plus Postage.

Editor’s Pick

2013 Family Planner/Calendar. This A3 size, spiral bound calendar is available in two designs: Floral & Birdie from Miss May Stationary and Gifts. $25.00

www.supportawahp.com

Editor’s Pick

FB Contests - Fast Track Course. Includes training, videos and 12 months exclusive access to the Fanpage Competitions contest app. $97 (See website for details)

Silly Reindeer Dip Bowl with Spreader. Made from earthenware. - Hand wash recommended.  Diameter 12.5cm From Shirl’s Wedding Supplies and Gifts. $34.95

Get your very own Santa Christmas Costume and wow the kids this Christmas. Includes hat, wig, beard, jacket, pants, belt, and boot tops for that authentic Santa look. Size 2XL. Available from Shirls Wedding Supplies & Gifts. $65.00

Adrien Arpel Natural Skin Care Happy Hour collection. Available from Colour Me Beautiful Cosmetics. $47 ($94.50 value)

Buy a talking teddy bear this Christmas and help Mummy’s Wish bring joy to children with sick mums. A voice recordable Teddy Bear will make a great, personalized gift for a child in your life! This Christmas, when you buy a bear from Mummy’s Wish, you will also be donating a bear to a child whose mum is fighting cancer.

$29.50 buys two voice-recordable Teddy Bears: one for the child in your life and another for a child whose mum has cancer.

Since 2008, Mummy’s Wish has been providing young children whose mum has cancer with a voice recordable teddy bear, pre recorded with a special message from their mum. The talking bears are a comfort to children while mum is in hospital for treatment.

Content Marketing

Cardiology

Subscribe Here

Subscribe to my mailing list and get instant access to my FREE webinar: What to do when you don’t know what to talk about on your blog.

casmccullough.com/when-you-dont-know-what-to-talk-about-on-your-blog/ 22

Talking bears have been costing Mummy’s Wish around $1000 a month. Thanks to our new supplier we can offer you a great price on the bears this Christmas and (hopefully) cover our bear costs for 2013. Orders must be placed by Saturday 8th December 2012 for pickup on Tuesday 18th December or delivery before Friday 21st December. Choose from 4 beautiful bears or 4 cuddly friends

Order at store.mummyswish.org.au www.supportawahp.com

‘Dreams To Sell’ CD. Soothing lullabies and songs, old and new, sung - and some written by Rhona MacLeod. $25 including P&P (within Australia). Overseas orders will incur a higher postage charge.

Dreams to Sell Infant Massage with Rhona MacLeod (Macarthur area, SW of Sydney, Australia). See Website for class times and options: www.dreamstosell.com.au.

Give th e be this cute dtime monst ers a ru Oscar th n fo e Grou ch ava r their money Cheap ilable a with Clothin t Cute g PTY L and TD. $26 .95

Hot Air Balloon Print by Lexi and Lily. From $25.00 (comes in 2 sizes, unframed).

Editor’s Pick

Hot Air Balloon Personalised Cushion by Lexi and Lily. From $30.00 (comes in 2 sizes).

WAHPs The True Trail Blazers! By Sally Thibault

www.supportawahp.com

Yesterday, somebody asked me why I do what I do. I am an author, speaker and business owner, who specializes in working with parents, schools, service providers and universities about parenting a child on the autism spectrum. Sometimes the challenges are great, especially when faced with the

isolation of working from home, the frustration of researching

and developing new products or

marketing strategies, and that ever looming issue of regular income! There are often times when I too question why I do what I do, when a retreat to the safety

to find the diagnosis. One of the

in the morning!) quite honestly I

were certainly trail blazers. A friend

Now through my connections on

first children diagnosed in the

Queensland Education system, we of mine says we’re ‘ahead of the wave surfers.’

Those first years were tough,

very tough. We lost everything as the strain of the diagnosis

placed enormous pressure on our relationship, our finances and finally on our health.

Then, one day I realised I was

missing something – that something was me! I made a decision right

of a secure, well-paid (or

should I say ‘regular’ paid’)

job appears very appealing. So when somebody asked me the question, in turn I asked myself the same question - Why?

The answers were very simple • Because I absolutely love what I do, and it makes my heart

sing far greater than I thought possible.

• because I am making a

difference in the lives of others daily, and

• because, I figure, after years of heartbreak and struggle

there has to be a reason I went through it all!

In 1997, our eldest son was diagnosed with Asperger’s

Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum

disorder. He was 12 years-old at the time. It had taken over 10 years of

constant searching and questioning

there and then to always follow my

heart, to trust in my intuition and to believe that I was the centre of all

change I was to make in my life. The outcome of that decision changed our lives forever.

That, I believe, is the reason I do

what I do, because isn’t that what

trail blazers do? They go to where

others have never been before and they carve the path, cut down the

obstacles and find the better way to assist those who are also travelling the journey.

The ‘why’ we do what we do is

far more powerful than anything

that makes ‘sense.’ Sure, it’s scary. Sure, it can be a minefield, but in

those quiet moments of solitude (in between writing blog posts at 4am

wouldn’t have it any other way. social media and networking I

meet hundreds of other WAHPs who are choosing the same

path. Work at Home Parents are the new trail-blazers, the new

economy and the new direction.

Whilst it can be difficult and scary, living with wholeness and spirit

is the greatest gift we can give our children.

When our son was diagnosed on the Autism spectrum, I believed it was the worst thing that had ever happened in our lives. Now I truly realise it is a gift. Marianne Williamson wrote “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

As WAHPs, living, working and expressing the ‘who’ we are in the true essence of our new careers and our businesses is the gift we give, the way we let our own lights shine. We are the ‘trailblazers’ for our children. As we live our best lives, they too are learning that you can be who you want to be; you can embrace the wholeness of your spirit and at the same time create a living. The money… well it always comes often only in the nick of time. And every time that happens, I am reminded that yes, this is what I am supposed to be doing, and I am grateful for the lesson that got me here.

Meet this year’s Top WAHP People’s Choice Award Winner

Alana Jones Tell us about your business— what do you do? My business is Sparkling Dragon Designs, the home of unique

jewellery for unique women.  I make handcrafted jewellery in my home studio. My range includes bridal designs, wire name necklaces, captured treasure necklaces,

breastfeeding necklaces, quirky rings & floating charm lockets.   I specialise in creating custom

made designs, especially wedding jewellery and accessories. Seeing the joy and excitement in my customers’ faces as I reveal

their very own creations is truly wonderful and heart-warming.

I also offer a jewellery repair and

re-design service to rejuvenate old and damaged favourite pieces of 26

jewellery which might be hiding at

the back of your drawer. I have been

I began selling my designs to family

our first child.

demand, I began selling in local

growing my business over the past 6 years, since I was pregnant with Sparkling Dragon Designs is not

just my business, it is my passion. I

believe that every woman deserves to wear beautiful jewellery.

Why did you to decide to run your own business from home? I have always loved making

jewellery. It has been a long time hobby of mine.

During my time off work with my first pregnancy, I was asked to

create bridal jewellery for a friend’s wedding and seeing the wedding party’s delight with my designs

and their positive feedback was

the inspiration I needed to create Sparkling Dragon Designs.

and friends, and by word of mouth my business soon grew. Through

boutique shops and online stores.

What do you love most about running your own business? I love running my own business, I get to work with beautiful beads

and materials and turn them into

jewellery for people to wear. It is a wonderful feeling seeing someone wearing a design I have created. Most of all I love that I get to be

with my children, nurturing them and seeing their milestones, all

the while growing and developing my business. I communicate with

customers from all over the world, often with my two year old sitting on my lap and my ten month old

happily playing on the floor beside me.

www.supportawahp.com

Business Name: Sparkling Dragon Designs Website URL: sparklingdragondesigns.com.au Facebook URL: /SparklingDragonDesigns Pinterest: AlanaJonesSDD Location: Mooroolbark Victoria Australia

What has been the biggest challenge for you in running your own business? How have you tackled this challenge? What have you learned?

appointments, I have to take a deep

There have been quite a few

I believe in myself and my

difficult business challenges for me, from finding the balance between business and family, to getting up

the nerve to show my jewellery to potential clients.

To overcome these challenges I have a good support network of family

and friends, who I am able to share ideas with, ask questions and seek advice.

For getting the right balance I often work late into the night when my

children are asleep in bed. I write to-do lists and cross off at least

one task per day.  When I am going to visit stores where I have made

breath, stop for a moment and know that my creations are very good,

and are worthy of being on display in their store.

business. My greatest challenge

with my business is that, although

I know I have a good products and services to offer, just trying to get found is difficult.

My website and business are a

for handmade artists, I am working extremely hard to get more

exposure for my creations and to

get my jewellery brand recognised. I find that I get a lot of business through word of mouth

recommendations, also looking

after my existing customers and

keeping them abreast of sales and new designs.

labour of love, and thus I have

If you could give another WAHP just one tip, what would it be?

service. Hopefully I will be able to

My advice to others thinking of

How do you market your business on and offline?

it!”

finally “Bitten the Bullet” and

invested in an SEO development grow even further from here.

Being a small business I do not have a big budget, but through continued efforts in social media and websites

becoming mumpreneurs is “go for Sit down and write out your

thoughts and goals, set tasks and

never give up. Know you are worth

it and let nothing stand in your way.

How to make a business out of

Social Media By Eden Rudin

If you enjoy spending time on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube, then you may want to consider looking into becoming a social media manager.

and make money while doing it.

Simply put, it’s a business that

favorite clothing store show off the

allows you to spend a majority of 28

time doing what you already love

Take a look around your local

community. Do you frequent a

business that you wish would post

their sales and specials on Facebook

Your local small business

community needs help to

understand and incorporate social

media into their marketing and you can be the one to help them.

so you, and others, could easily

Here are a few ways that you can get started just using Facebook:

‘newest’ arrivals so you don’t miss

Create ‘social’ proof

see that information? Does your the chance to snatch one up?

www.supportawahp.com

Don’t let this intimidate you. It’s

although usually with small

your work at home business? Yep!

you to post and just want you to

easier than you think. Do you

currently have a Facebook Page for

That is social proof, and you can use your success as your social proof!

If you haven’t quite made it that far, no worries. How about talking to

friends who have businesses that either haven’t jumped into social media or already have and are

struggling with how to make it work effectively.

Doing work for free or for trade

(good old fashioned bartering at its

best) is a great way to build up your social proof.

Just a side note, just because you may be doing the work for free, remember you are planting the

seeds for growth and these accounts will be great testimonials for you in

the future, so treat them just as you would if you were getting paid for the work.

businesses this isn’t the case. But

if the business owners don’t want ‘set up’ their presence, you need

page and if the business owners don’t post frequently enough or

responding to posts then you need

doing just that task.

to hop on in and get the job done.

Sometimes it will be your

responsibility to not only setup the Page but find content to post, as

well as find the ‘sweet spot’ of what the audience reacts to.

Also, going out and involving the

Page in conversations where their customers hang out is part of the puzzle. Again with each industry

being different, both these tasks will take effort on your part.

you and the business share the

You need to keep an eye on the

aren’t giving comments a “Like” or

to understand what is involved in

And another scenario is that

the ‘watch and manage’ situation.

responsibility of posting. I call this

Although there are a lot more

details that entail becoming a social media manager, hopefully these

few ideas will get you thinking and

understanding that if you love social media then you can really make

a business out of it and help your

local small business community too. Who knows? Your positive efforts

could make the difference between

a business keeping their doors open or having to close them due to lack of sales. Now wouldn’t that feel good?

Special WAHP ONLY Sweet Holiday Contest! I’m giving away 1

Keep track of your efforts No I’m not going to get all nerdy and statistical on you, but you do need to keep records of what you do. Simply keeping a weekly Excel

spreadsheet tracking how the Page

(valued at $545 USD)

Simply enter at

is growing, how much engagement

www.ultimatesocialmediatraining.com/wahp

eventually want to compile to show

Entry deadline is Dec. 20 th, and winner will be notified on Dec. 25 th 2012 via email

it’s getting and what is working is

important information that you will future paying customers how you keep track of things.

Understand what is involved in the job Some businesses won’t want you

posting on behalf of their company,

T ‎ he Secret Code is WAHP12

I am available to answer questions on Facebook so let’s connect Social Media Manager Training fb.com/ultimatesocialmediatraining 29

Meet this year’s Top WAHP Member’s Choice Award Winner

Felicity O’Donohue Tell us about your business— what do you do? I create handmade goats milk soaps, moisturisers and natural skin balms to help parents in their fight to

naturally ease the effects of nasty skin irritations such as Eczema, Dermatitis and Psoriasis.

My business is a direct result of ‘the gift of giving handmade’ Christmas presents to family and friends in 2010.  As a mum of two Eczema

sufferers I soon discovered doctors love to write scripts for steriodal

creams and suggest not much else.

Looking into alternative treatments we discovered goats milk products are great at easing these itching

effects and generally nourishing your skin. I get alot of calls and

emails from parents wondering 30

what i suggest as nothing seems to work for their little babies.

Honestly, it’s heartbreaking. This

will sound corny, but i do cry with

every parent when they relay their personal story to me. However at

the end of our time together people feel more comfortable with me

and the knowledge I have of my products.

Why did you to decide to run your own business from home?

today. I still get all of my orders out within 24hrs. I just can’t physically leave the house!

What do you love most about running your own business? I LOVE it all!!⎯the fact it is mine and I make all the important decisions right through to spending that quality time with my kids.

FAMILY!! My family is very

What has been the biggest challenge for you in running your own business? How have you tackled this challenge? What have you learned?

enjoy those special moments, yet

Copying is the highest form of

The flexibility is another great

I am still chewing on this one, but

important to me, and having two small boys at home I wanted to

provide for my family financially.

bonus for us. I can work when the

kids go to bed at night, although I’m already one tired mumma!

I don’t have to answer to a ‘boss’

and try explaining that my kids are

sick and I can’t come into the office

praise!!

I guess it is true. I have had other businesses copy exactly some

products, even to the point they

copy text of ads and run under their business name.

www.supportawahp.com

These days I wear my ‘big girl pants’

Name

good then!!’ and get on with things.

Felicity O’Donohue

and just say ‘Geez it must have been Otherwise I’m worrying about

someone else’s actions which I have absolutely no control over.

How do you market your business on and offline? I have been very lucky since starting my business with the amount of FREE publicity i have received. I wrote my first press release

and it was picked up by my local

newspaper within days, and went to print a month after that!

I have also used Google ads, and

Facebook ads. I spend ALOT of time

Business Name The Karma Soap Company Location Sydney, Australia Website http://www.thekarmasoapcompany.com.au Facebook Business Page /thekarmasoapcompany Twitter Profile @karmasoaps

on Facebook interacting with my ‘likers’ and i hand out flyers and

business cards when at markets and events.

My business has a website and I

have worked very hard on my SEO and backlinking to get the google ranking I have.

If you could give another WAHP just one tip, what would it be? Choose something you are

passionate about. You will be

constantly thinking of and inside

your business. When you talk about something that ignites a passion within you, your customers will

sense this and ignite their passion,

therefore creating a loving and loyal new customer for you.

By Sadie-Michaela Harris

These days there are just over one billion smart phones around the world.

This means that one in three

people using the internet are

To put that into perspective, that’s

now doing so on a mobile device

In today’s world, mobile users are seldom just randomly surfing the web.

roughly a seventh of the world’s

and they are searching for a local

population.

They want specifics! Information

The growth is up 46.6 percent on

business in their own area.

the same period last year.

Easy to grasp with the figures

address, the services you offer and

shared here that if businesses

To reach this point took 16 years. However, it is anticipated to take less than three years to hit two billion users.

Google reported a 400 percent

increase in the number of searches made on a smart phone compared to the same period last year.

Twenty percent of all internet searches are now being carried out on smart phone or mobile devices. One in every three 32

mobile searches is now local.

do not have a mobile-optimised website, they are missing a

percentage of potential customers and the income they may bring.

Mobile sales have already exceeded desktop PC sales and mobile

internet usage is expected to exceed desktop usage in 2013.

This means the vast majority of

visitors to your website will soon be on a mobile device. Is your business ready for them?

like opening hours, phone number, a map to find you. If they don’t

get what they need they will go

elsewhere. Your competitors gain business that could have been yours!

Most websites are not designed for mobile phones. • They are hard to read and to navigate for mobile users.

• They take too much time to load,

• Information like telephone

numbers and email addresses are not displayed with

www.supportawahp.com

usability in mind. Visitors have

smartphone

and out to read the information,

on mobile

to scroll left to right and zoom in mostly by which time it is so small it can’t be read!

Research has proven that

when visitors land on a site like that they leave rapidly!

With a well designed mobile website the difference is huge. It loads very quickly, information

is accessed easily from the home

page and a user can call you using a

click-to-call button. Information like

directions and opening times can be found with minimal effort.

A mobile website will be designed to redirect automatically when it detects all the most popular

devices. Users

If you were using the Internet on a mobile phone which of these websites would you find easier to use? Or this...

This...

phones will

be redirected

seamlessly to a mobile site and will no

longer have

to scroll from

left to right or zoom in and

out to read the content.

The good news

competitors pass you by, attracting

for your business is affordable and

been yours, simply because they are

is that creating a mobile website it could make a big difference to your business.

Mobile marketing is huge and

growing every day. Don’t let your

all the customers that could have visible.

Think smart... think

Smartphone! You’ll be pleased that you did! :)

Top Eight Socially Savvy Ways to Find “Goldie Oldie” Friends Online By Dalai-Nana Maryn Williams We have all wondered, from time to time, about a friend from college,

high school or grammar school with

whom we have lost touch. Whatever happened to Robin? Did she have a

career, a marriage, a family, an easy life or was it more difficult? Did

she age gracefully, or not so much?

Maybe even more intriguing would be the old boyfriend who was so ‘your whole life’ for a total of six 34

weeks in 1969. Did he lose his hair?

Get a pot belly? Is he still cool? Did he marry and have a family—or two?

What better time than the

holidays to check them out! In this technological age it is becoming

easier and easier to locate people.

Aren’t we lucky to have the fabulous digital tools to poke around

anonymously and, if we desire, even secretively. Here are my favorite methods of finding people.

Facebook This is obviously the first place to go as there is a good chance

that the person you are seeking is one of the one billion people on

Facebook. There could be a mutual childhood friend who can lead you

to them or possibly, you remember a brother or sister’s name and you can connect some dots to both of

them. Of course, guys are easier to find than girls since they generally www.supportawahp.com

do not change their name. But don’t

everywhere but are also a great

Try some Boolean searches using

automatically “follow” your

despair, often women add their

maiden name just for that purpose. the name, school, hometown etc.

‘open gate’ to your past. When you first join SchoolFeed, you

Google

classmates and Facebook

The absolutely mother lode of all

message them and see their updates

information. My best friend, Sharon, moved from our hometown when we were 12. I had been thinking

of her a lot so I began an intensive Google search. I was able to locate her residence, (Google Earth) and

found pictures of her and her family online, including her husband and children in a newspaper article.

Linkedin groups for alumni of schools or companies If the school does not have a forum they may have a Linkedin group. I

have connected with several friends from my alma mater through these groups. Often the purpose of the

group is for job search connections or sometimes fund raising, but it’s worth it to connect with friends.

College forums and alumni pages

Many colleges or universities have alumni pages and like to connect their followers. Many people

send in personal updates – births, marriages, promotions and so on.

SchoolFeed (App by Classmates found on Facebook) or other programs that “scrape” the internet for your classmates These apps can be really annoying since they want to follow you

friends. That gets you connected

immediately to people so you can

on your News Feed. From that point on, it is your choice on who you want to follow or unfollow.

There are paid people search

engines but also some are free like

People Search Engines. In all cases, be careful, safe and alert online.

Ancestry.com

This will be more laborious, but if you are really desperate, bear

with me. If you know the person’s parent’s name and where they

lived at a specific Census year, you

can trace them and find other legal documents that may relate to the

friend. I have two different friends who have actually found cousins

they have not seen in over 40 years by using Ancestry.com.

Words With Friends, Farmville and other games After you find these friends, the

challenge is deciding if you want

to be friends again or not. One of

the best ways to reconnect without much risk is to play a game like

Words with Friends. I must say that I have truly enjoyed connecting again. There is something very

comforting about knowing the old friends are there even if we only share a digital game.

Search techniques Unless you want to spend years in front of a computer, you will

have to spruce up your skills on

Boolean search techniques. Boolean searches allow you to combine words and phrases using the

words AND, OR, NOT and NEAR

(all caps) to limit, widen, or define your search. Most Internet search

engines and web directories default to these Boolean Search Operators: • Quotes are limited to the exact words in the exact order.

• AND is equal to the «+» symbol. • NOT is equal to the «-» symbol. • OR is the default setting of any search engine; meaning, it will

return all the words you type in, automatically.

• NOT will narrow a search by

excluding certain search terms.

• NEAR is equal to putting a

search query in quotes, i.e.,

«sponge bob squarepants».

You›re essentially telling the

search engine that you want all of these words, in this specific order, or this specific phrase.

This should be enough to get you

lurking around your old haunts and spying on lost loves. If you want to find some new haunts and share

your new loves, please join me at

The Dalai-Nana or on Facebook as we bridge the digital divide! Good luck in the search for your golden friends!

www.supportawahp.com

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! A WAHPing ChristmasTM is ÂŠ 2012 Support a WAHP. All Rights Reserved. All stock imagery used under purchase licensing agreements. You may share this e-magazine with anyone you like in its entirety. You may also print it out for personal use.