Queensland AUGUST 2011
H
Magazine
ello to all our lovely fans out there.
Welcome to another edition of our magazine! Firstly I would like to start off by thanking everyone involved in the Townsville Expo that happened on the 16th July. It was fantastic, a lot more organised and relaxed!! A special thank you to Gina and Helen who helped out with the set up. We raised $245 for the PANDA Association. Secondly there has been a few changes to the QLD Mumpreneurs Expo business since our last magazine. Our biggest change is that I have decided to stick to just Townsville Expos for now due to family and business commitments. The other change is that the calender will not go ahead due to the lack of response. This is a shame as it was going to showcase so many businesses to so many towns all throughout Australia, but I guess them’s the breaks. We will be organising a big Pink Ribbon fundraiser for October 2011 details are still to come but I am thinking dinner out in Townsville with some raffles and prizes.
S.E. Queensland
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Pg 2
Events Calendar
Pg 4&5 Mums of the Month Pg 6
Handy Hints and Tips “Does your Facebook Page mean Business?”
Pg 7
Recipes of the Month
Pg 8
Starting out in Business “Maintaining Ownership over your Website”
Pg 10
Sponsors Page
Our final expo for 2011 is on the 26th November 2011 at Carlyle Gardens in Condon we are now taking bookings for this event which is SINGLE INSIDE stalls only, $40 for a stall which includes a table and a chair. This event will be massive lots for the kiddies with Santa arriving and lots of fun demos on. For bookings please email me at info@qldmumpreneurexpo.com.au Thanks see you all soon,
Lee -Anne XX
book your table now for the last expo of the year! 26th November @ carlyle Gardens Email: info@qldmumpreneurexpo.com.au dress up in a christmas theme! EMAIL: info@qldmumpreneurexpo.com.au
FACEBOOK: NORTH Qld Mumpreneurs Expo
WEBSITE: www.qldmumpreneurexpo.com.au
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Events Calendar AUGUST
1st
August Magazine published
SEPTEMBER 17th
School Holidays begin
24th
October Magazine deadline
OCTOBER Pink Ribbon Fundraiser Date & Venue to be confirmed 1st
October Magazine published
4th
School Term 4 begins
30th
Townsville November Expo Bookings deadline
NOVEMBER 26th
Townsville Expo Carlton Theatre, Carlyle Gardens 9.30am Santa arrives at 11.30am December Magazine deadline
DECEMBER 1st
December Magazine published
10th
School Holidays begin
25th
Christmas Day
26th
Boxing Day
27th
Boxing Day Holiday
Page 2
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Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
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check out our cool stuff on our facebook page Page 3
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Queensland
Mums of the Month
AUGUST
ELINOR’S CUPBOARD
HELEN NAICKER Like many stay at home Mum’s I had wanted to start up a small business for ages. Something I would enjoy doing and also allowing me to earn a little pocket money on the side. I kept a folder in my desk of articles that I had read about other mum’s starting up businesses for inspiration. I am married & have four children and we are a home-schooling family so I really needed something flexible to fit around our family and schooling. I joined up with Phoenix early in the year as they sell beautiful greeting cards and stationery but it still wasn’t the niche I was looking for. Then one day out of the blue it just hit me how I really love shopping for gifts for my family and friends and I love to find beautiful things at bargain prices. So after lots of brain storming and planning I decided what I really wanted was a small gift shop and so Elinor’s Cupboard was established. Elinor’s Cupboard is a small gift business where I sell beautiful items like candles, soaps, ornaments, greeting cards, children’s books & groovy signs for affordable prices. I like to look for pretty things & unique gifts that you don’t often see in Townsville. I love the fact that by working at home I can make my own schedule. I have set aside a few time slots in the week where I can sit down and work on my business. It’s at night after everyone is asleep that I spend time sourcing suppliers and I also allocate a couple of hours on the weekend to balance my books. Facebook is a wonderful free marketing tool that I am slowing getting used to using. I enjoy going Page 4
to various markets throughout the Townsville region a couple of times a month and meeting the people who buy my stock. Something new for me has been giftware parties. I have had a few people ask me to come over to their home and display my stock. The hostess puts on some drinks and snacks and invites her friends over for a get together and the opportunity to buy gifts for birthdays and Christmas presents. It is all a learning curve with lots of juggling but one that I am thoroughly enjoying. Helen has been married to Reshi for 12 years and they have four children.
You can find Elinor’s Cupboard on Facebook or email: elinorscupboard@live.com.au
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Queensland
Mums of the Month
September
DiVINE DESIGNS
KELLY DICKETTS Tell us about your business? Divine Designs specialises in personalised Children's Themed products and gifts for all occasions including name canvases for your child’s door or wall and invitations. How did you get into it? I enjoyed coming up with different designs for ourselves, family and friends and someone suggested I should offer it to others so I did! How long have you been doing it for? I have been doing this for about a year but have only just started to offer the children’s themed products in the last few months. What was the biggest draw card to do this sort of work? Doing something I enjoy for others.
From left Kelly, Blake, Paul and Aiden Dicketts
How do you manage to juggle your family/work balance? My boys are in a similar routine to each other so I’m able to work myself around them. Anything else you want to say about promos etc for business? I have written, illustrated and self published a children’s book about epilepsy inspired by my 3 y/o son to help raise awareness and education for people like us living with epilepsy. $2 from each book sold is being donated to Epilepsy Queensland. For more information you can view the book at thelionssecret.wordpress.com
You can find Divine Designs on Facebook or you can email: info@divinedesigns.net.au web: www.divinedesigns.net.au
Page 5
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Handy Hints and Tips
DOES YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE MEAN BUSINESS? By Donna Hamer, Owner of Simple Online Solutions
Step back a moment and look at your Facebook Page - does it reflect your business? Do your fans know what your business is about? Have you made it easy for them to contact you? Do they even know who you are? Or better still, know how to buy your products? Do you have a way of contacting them outside of Facebook? Here are 7 suggestions to help you turn your Fans into Raving Customers: 1. Invite your existing customers to become Fans. Customers who become Fans will recommend your product or service more often to their friends; 2. Display your image as the Page Owner. Think about it, do you like to buy from someone who you don’t know even if it’s a low ticket item? 3. Initiate conversations around your products. By sharing your expertise and discovering what your audience needs, you'll be building your fan base and making sure your product grows with their evolving needs and suggestions; 4. Build a list of customers using an email subscriber software such as aweber.com or mailchimp. Email your customers once a month with a special or something interesting about your product or service; 5. Setup a Store on your Facebook Page. There are free apps available to do this or you can speak to Simple Online Solutions about setting one up for you; 6. Add a coupon to your Page, change it regularly; 7. Run a promotion from your Page using the Wildfire app. If all of this sounds a little too hard – then grab yourself a calendar and start setting up your marketing plan. Implement one suggestion a week and it won’t be long before you turn your Fans into Raving Customers. Written by Donna Hamer owner of Simple Online Solutions – visit us at www.facebook.com/simpleonlinesolutions
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Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Recipes of the Month These recipes are thanks to GINA FROM GROOVY GRAPHICS
quick corn & bean nachos 2 teaspoons of Oil 1 onion, chopped 2 teaspoons of Taco seasoning 400gm tin of chopped tomatoes 310gm tin of corn kernels, drained 300gm tin of four bean mix, drained 1 packet of Original Corn Chips 1 cup of grated cheese Sour Cream In a medium saucepan, over a medium heat, mix the first six ingredients, stirring to combine. Arrange corn chips over the base of a shallow oven-proof dish, once onion is cooked, spoon mixture over the corn chips. Sprinkle with grated cheese and grill until melted. Serve with sour cream.
tortilla lasagna Tired of plain old Spaghetti Bolognese, try this alternative. Cook up your bolognese sauce as per normal, then using a round cake tin lightly sprayed with cooking spray, place a flour tortilla on the bottom, then spoon in a layer of bolognese and a light sprinkle of cheese, then continue layering with a tortilla, bolognese and cheese. When you get to the top of the tin, finish with a tortilla and cover with grated cheese. Place in a 180ËšC oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown. Cut into pie wedges and serve with vegetables or a salad.
If you have an old family favourite that you and your family enjoy, or maybe a new recipe that has taken your fancy, why not share it!
Just email it to info@qldmumpreneurexpo.com.au and we will pop it into the next newsletter! Or go one better, next time you make it, take a quick snap and email it with recipe! Page 7
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
Starting out in Business THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING OWNERSHIP OVER YOUR WEBSITE
If you’re thinking of starting your own web campaign or improving an existing online presence for your business, brace yourself for an overwhelming experience. If not vigilant enough, there are a lot of web designers and developers out there who can advantage of your inexperience for their personal gain. Here’s a guide to help you avoid the horrors and pitfalls associated with website ownership.
content as well as other end-results you would expect. Bring this up at the beginning of your contract to avoid any legal disputes that may arise in the future. Aside from verbal agreement on copyright and ownership issues, it is recommended to have a written agreement signed by both parties.
Purchase Your Own Domain Name
Another point you should consider is establishing the extent of your control on the back-end i.e. your ability to update and change information on your website. If you have the time to manage basic content additions and changes then make sure that you have your site built using a Content Management System (CMS). However, make sure there is no charge for you to access the back-end of your website. Recently, a client came to me asking to take over the maintenance of his website. This was because his previous web developer wanted to charge him $100 per month just so that he could access his site’s back-end. I did some research about the CMS platform that his website was built on and it turned out to be a custom-built CMS that his previous developers owned. If not careful about choosing developers and establishing ownership boundaries, you might just end up like him – asked to pay for what is supposed to be yours. It’s frustrating to hear stories like these and to know that there are people in the web marketing industry that take advantage of their clients. Personally, I build all my websites on WordPress – a free ‘open source’ website platform. WordPress sites allow you to customise your design templates with its user-friendly
Make sure you own your domain name. It is really important that the domain your website is built on is purchased in your name. In cases when developers volunteer and give you the assurance to buy the domain name on your behalf, it is best to politely decline and instead, purchase it yourself. The reason behind this recommendation - the purchaser or the name used to buy the domain name is the legal owner of the website. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to see that after years of successfully building and maintaining your online business that it was your web developer who legally owns and have the rights to your domain name. It is also important that every website owner knows how to renew their domain name. You should know and update yourself when your domain name expires. You wouldn’t want the competitor or some other new company to use the domain name that you have worked hard to establish. Keep your contact details up to date with the domain registrar and don’t forget to renew.
Establish Ownership and Copyright Make sure to establish copyright and ownership on the template, design, and web Page 8
Establish the Extent of Your Control on the Back-End
Queensland Mumpreneurs Magazine
THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING OWNERSHIP OVER YOUR WEBSITE CONTINUED functionalities. The best thing about it is that it allows you to manage and control the content of your website, free of charge!
Own Your Artwork Once your design is complete, make sure to ask your web developer or designer for the original artwork files. As mentioned above, you should have established at the beginning of the contract copyright and ownership issues. Let’s say, the design was created using Photoshop, you can ask the designer for the original PSD file. Aside from ownership issues, autonomy is another reason why you must ALWAYS ask for the design files. If in the future you want small changes to be made or if you aren’t satisfied with your current web designer’s work, you can pass the file to your new designer to complete.
Secure Your Passwords You wouldn’t want someone to have keys to your apartment if he already moved out, right? The same goes with website access. During the course of a project, you would usually provide the web developer the logins and passwords to your website. As soon as the project is finished, make sure to change all account passwords that you shared. It is best to use complex passwords with a combination of upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers. This is not only to secure the originality and ownership of your site but also to prevent hacking and phishing in the future.
review your sites progress from time to time and make appropriate changes or improvements when necessary. If you have multiple sites, it is recommended to set your Google Analytics under a master Google account for more convenient management. Access to the Google Analytics of your website is required and a must. Be concerned if your developer restricts you or makes it difficult for you to access your Google Analytics.
Keep a Backup Make sure that you have a backup of your website in your posssesion and if you update your site on a regualr basis, the backup files should be emailed to you weekly or fortnighltly. It can be risky to rely on your developer to do it for you. A lot of webhosts make file exporting easier by providing one-click backups or step-by-step instructions. The backup files should include the entire site, template, design, content, images, databases, mailing lists, logs, etc. The backup file is usually accessed with WinZip or other file compressing software. Once you’ve downloaded your backup, make sure to have a few copies handy in case something happens to your computer. You can save it on a removable hard drive or on a CD. By following these simple steps, you will avoid the pitfalls that can be associated with website ownership and security.
Ensure Access and Control to Google Analytics You should also be able to access, monitor, and control your Google Analytics account. Google Analytics is a free software that provides updates on how much traffic is coming to your site and where it’s coming from. You might have heard of it and it is a must that you have access and have control over it. You can monitor and Page 9
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