Success Story: Its An Attitude

Our latest Success Story is yet another example of a savvy Mum finding inspiration through the journey of motherhood and turning her small idea into big business.


Meet Joanna Barclay. This is her story: 


A couple of years ago, after relocating to Dubai from Hong Kong (a true expat !) I wanted to find a career which would allow me to work from home so I could spend time with my 2 children, but also to find a project that was not only enjoyable to start on, but something a little ‘different’, something where there was a niche in the market place. A girlfriend and I put our thinking caps on and after quite some time and a lot of ideas (which were thrown in the bin) later .... I happened to be looking in my daughters wardrobe and came across a beautiful bright pink cashmere hat that was given to her at her birth. It is one of the few items that I kept and is still so gorgeous, soft and remembered with such fondness. From there, we decided that that was it ! We would embark on building up a small brand focusing on baby wear which was not only of the highest quality but also in an array of really fun, exciting bright colours – very different to the ‘high street’ baby pinks and baby blues. The products were to be true keepsake pieces which could be handed down from generation to generation. And so, Babatude – Babies with Attitude – was born !

Since starting Babatude, we have come across and discovered that there are many more amazing, imaginative and daringly independent designers out there whose products are far too distinctive to be considered for the mainstream retailing industry. Designers who like us feel that the market is far too restrictive and predictable to cater for those who dare to be different!

So in May 2012 along came Babatude Boutique ! We decided to team up with some of these incredible artists and talent from all over the globe and offer our clients a wider selection of bespoke new discoveries from both ends of the price bracket. It’s been a crazy, busy past 6 months as we have hand-picked and invited each individual designer to join our Boutique which takes an incredible amount of research (research, research and oh, more research !) to ensure that we have the cream-of-the crop on our site ! Unfortunately we haven’t been able to meet most of the artists purely due to the distance factor - if only I could do a field trip to see our wonderful brand, Mi Cielo in Hawaii ! - we have and continue to grown a terrific relationship with them, which really makes this role so enjoyable.

The hours are long and it is hard work and thank goodness for a Blackberry. It hasn’t always been easy to figure out the way forward to market our site (and believe me, I’m still learning !) I mean, who really knows about SEO, PPC, Affiliates and Analytics ??!

Whilst I wouldn’t say I’m a guru in any of those areas, I’ve certainly spent a lot of time on Google learning about them !! However as the site continues to grow each week, each month it all makes it worthwhile. Ah yes, and I still get to see the little monsters when they come back from school too !!

Joanna Barclay
Director,
Babatude Boutique

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Babatude Boutique
Name: Joanna Barclay
Email: joanna@babatude.com
Website: www.babatude.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Babatude.Childrenswear
Tweets: https://twitter.com/#!/babatude1



Do you have an inspiring story to share?
How has motherhood paved your pathway to a new business idea or venture? We'd love to hear from you! Contact Us

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Posted in: Mumprenuers,Success Stories

How To Turn Your Hobby Into a Mumpreneur Business

Many mums are looking for ways to earn a flexible income around their families. Some just want a bit of extra cash every month and others building a fully-fledged business. If you'd like to earn an income from your hobby, here are five top tips to get you started:


Will your hobby still be fun if you're doing it as a job?

It sounds great to get paid for doing something you enjoy doing. But if you turned your hobby into a job, would it become a chore instead?

Let's say you enjoy making jewellery. If you do it as a hobby, you can take as long as you like experimenting with different materials and designs. Once it becomes a business, you'll have to be much more disciplined about getting items made in a certain time. Would you still enjoy it?

Check you can actually make money from your hobby

To give you a really rough, back-of-an-envelope idea of whether it's worth turning your hobby into a business, try this. Add up the cost of your raw materials and your time (if you're stuck for an hourly rate find out what your national minimum wage is and pick a number above this) and then double it to account for your admin and marketing time and any other costs you might have forgotten about (tax, flyers, business cards, insurance...) Then divide that by the number of items you can make in that time.

That should give you an idea of whether you can sell what you've made at a price people are prepared to pay and still make some money from it.

Check out your competition

If you enjoy your hobby, the chances are that lots of other people will do too. So there could be plenty of competition plus people doing it for fun may be selling their stuff at a much lower price than you.

Don't give up on your idea though! You could adapt your hobby so instead of (say) selling jewellery, you teach people to make it. Or set up a website selling jewellery made by other mums. Getting creative about how you make a profit from your hobby could really pay off.

Think about how you're going to sell

Making your products is only one part of earning an income. You also need to think about how you're going to reach your customers. The good news is there are lots of low-cost options from craft fairs to setting up your own website and even hosting parties.

Make sure you declare your earnings

If you're earning an income or planning to, you'll need to make sure you pay the appropriate taxes; and you may need to register as self-employed or you could risk a fine.

Article by Helen Lindop
To find out more about boosting your income as a mum in business, visit Helen Lindop's website EarnWhatYouDeserveasaMumpreneur.co.uk

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Posted in: Mumprenuers

Starting an Online Craft Business - A Perfect Match for WAHMs

So many mothers are confronted with the dilemma of choosing between staying home to care for their children and going back to work. I faced this myself managed to spend most of my daughters first two years at home, before returning to work part time.

What I didn't know back then was that many work at home moms (WAHMs) were starting entrepreneurial websites centered around their craft interests. Even if I had known, I probably would have written it off as something I was unqualified for. I have since learned that it is not so difficult after all, as long as you're willing to work hard.

There are an amazing number of resources available today, many of which are free to help those new to online entrepreneurial ship. And crafters are putting them to use at record numbers, starting craft websites to sell their crafts or their knowledge of crafts.

In general there are two ways you can build an online craft business. One is to sell products (presumably your own crafts, but really you could sell anything), and the other is to provide and informational site and generate income by advertising.

Which choice is right for you depends on whether you are a serious craft producer or someone who likes to try a little bit of everything. If you do create a lot of crafts, you have probably found that there are not enough birthdays, holidays and graduations to unload them all. If this is the case for you then a website selling your crafts might be just the ticket.

If, however, you are a dabbler, like me, then you enjoy learning new things all the time and move on from one project to another. If this is the case for you, then a website centered around your knowledge of crafts might be a better choice. Now, instead of selling your crafts, you earn an income off your craft website from either pay per click ads (usually from Google) or affiliate advertising (commission type).

So what is the secret to having a successful online craft business? In a word: Content. It is not enough to simply put up a single page craft website and expect any kind of real success. You have to provide loads of good craft information for your viewers. This is true for either of the online craft businesses described above.

Beyond that, you need to find a good web host and web building software and develop a niche that will become your target market. If you can find a host that can help will all of these tools, that is ideal, but certainly all the information you need to get started can be found with careful searches.

Watch out for scammers. If you come across single page websites promising get rich quick software, back away as fast as you can. There is no short cut around the work it takes to create a successful online craft business. You have a lot of research and writing to do, but it is certainly worth the effort to be able to spend time with your children and work from the comfort of your own home and on your own schedule.

Article by Theresa Momber.
Theresa owns and operates her own website, [http://cashcrafters.com] – A free guide to starting an online craft business. Learn more about becoming a WAHM or download the free WAHM – Masters Course. Source: http://EzineArticles.com/744279

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Posted in: Mumprenuers

Got A Product? Now Where to Sell it!

So you've become inspired and taken the steps--while multi-taking with motherhood--to bring your idea to life. Maybe you've sewn a super well-organised, washable Bub Bag or created a line of girly hair clips. Gone into home-based production on kiddie cupcakes. Whatever your idea or your product, now that you've created it, you'll need a place to market it.

With so many of us shopping online, the internet is fast becoming the place to go. Just look at all the Mums using social media to test-drive and promote their little business ideas, sell off out-grown clothes, used toys and baby gear. Its gone viral!

However, social networking sites can only take things so far. When your successful go of things bursts into an inevitable wild fire and you become an overnight sensation, you will want to find a more formal and secure means of selling online. Several sites come to mind, eBay being one of the more popular online auction and shopping websites.

As we looked at the different options, Bub Cafe stumbled acorss MadeIt.com.au, an online merchant site like any other but the big difference being it only promotes local Australian talent.

Bec Davies (and partner Jayc) founded madeit.com.au in July 2007 which first started out as a directory of favourite independent sellers in late 2006. Evidence of the vast array of talent in Australia led Bec to launch an affordable e-commerce store solely for handmade goods. The madeit online shop opened in mid 2007.

Why we like it: Madeit.com.au is all about supporting Australian talent. Lovers of handmade can purchase items on madeit direct from the seller and can choose from fashion, art, homewares, accessories, stationery, toys, children and babies clothing and much much more.

Anyone is welcome to sell their products on madeit as long as they reside within Australian territory and the product they are selling was independently designed or made. It does not matter if you create for a living or as a hobby - you can sell on madeit.

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Posted in: Mumprenuers

Mumpreneurs - Turning Your Talent Into a Home Business

Mumpreneurs are a group of women who are successfully managing to run a business as well as manage their home and take care of the family. This is a dynamic group of women who are finding that working from home can provide a greater level of personal satisfaction - and who have tapped into a way to make a strong living that uses their strengths, creativity and experiences to generate a stable income outside the 9-5 world.

What it Takes To Be a Mumpreneur
For mothers, they opportunity to establish a business provides them with a chance to use skills they have from their previous working lives, whether those skills are within the administrative, accountant or marketing areas or perhaps something more creative and artistic. The key to succeeding is to find something that you can get passionate about and channeling that passion to making a success of what you've chosen to pursue.

Leveraging The Power Of The Internet
Establishing a business via the internet opens up a world of opportunity that didn't exist previously. The internet provides a place to sell your goods and services, circumnavigating the need to have a specified business premises or shop front. To succeed as a mum and entrepreneur, you'll need to be able to find a niche and stay focused on making something of the niche in which you work.

How To Find Your Business Niche?
If you're actively trying to find a way to become a home business entrepreneur, then you need to begin by establishing your business niche. If you've worked in marketing, PR or communications, then a business that provides copywriting services might be perfect.

If you're a hands-on person and you've got experience making crafts or handmade items, then this might be your chosen path. Evaluating your strengths and past experiences is a good way to choose a niche, but if you're passion if for something completely different to what you've done before, you can equally take that passion and turn it into a thriving business if you are committed to making it work.

Taking your talents and the things that inspire you and making that into a home business is a wonderful way to create a level of greater personal freedom. If you love the idea of pursuing your interests and making a living from doing something you love, all while having more 'face time' with your family - then the decision to become one of the growing number of mumpreneurs could be the most rewarding choice you'll ever make.

Market Research
Whilst it is a bonus if you can think of a business idea that utilizes your interests and passions, it will be of no use to you if there is no money in it! Therefore, make sure you do your due diligence PRIOR to starting up your online business by conducting thorough market research. You need to establish that there is a market for your idea and that this market is a 'buying' market. One of the biggest mistake new business owners can make is to start a business based on emotion, rather than sound market need.

Article by Fiona Lewis
Fiona Lewis is a mother of three and a Mumpreneur. She has, in just three years, established an immensely successful internet marketing consulting business on her terms - allowing her to have quality time with her young family. She has created http://www.MumpreneursOnline.com to share her knowledge with the aim of encouraging more women to realize the online business opportunities that are available to them. The site discusses different online business models, strategies and techniques in the no-nonsense way that busy mums need. With tried and tested resource recommendations it is designed to short-cut their learning curve to enable them to get online quickly and profitably. It has a special focus on work from home Australia opportunities. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6174337

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Mum Working From Home Explains The Importance Of Social Media Marketing For Businesses

Social media is becoming increasingly more integrated into our lives, and for businesses, it's an important key element to the marketing mix. I'm a mum working from home in an online business and as I understand the importance of social media marketing, I'd like to share my experiences for the benefit of other business owners.

Your customers and future customers are using social media and it's a great way to engage with them. In addition to maintaining an online presence with your website, you need to be visible with a social presence also.

The worldwide recession is forcing us to add value to our businesses, so if you embrace social media marketing, the benefits will help to keep you trading in the future.

If you're on a limited marketing budget, social media marketing is the most cost effective way to reach customers with information about your products, product news, sales, deals and more and you'll find that if you devote an employee's time, even on a part time basis, to setting up and running your social media marketing, you'll have the ability to reach millions of potential customers that otherwise may never hear about you.

If you use some of the most popular social media marketing methods including blogging, you'll have a very powerful outreach program that will raise awareness in your brand which in turn, brings credibility for your company.

Social media marketing will help build customer relations and if your consumers can easily share frustrations with products or customer service directly with you and get feedback, they will feel more confident in your brand and have a better connection to it.

Likewise, if consumers feel you value their feedback and you implement their suggestions, for example, what to name a product or a perception of a product, they are far more likely to remain loyal to your brand and act as ambassadors on your behalf.

Social media can also generate high traffic to your business and in turn, increase sales which increases your return on investment (ROI).

It's become an invaluable and necessary set of tools to add to your arsenal in the 21st Century and given the many ways we access the Internet including mobile phones and other devices in addition to computers, social media is set to continue the upward growth trend.

We may as well face it, it's here to stay and we have to move with the times and best of all, it's FREE.

Global Internet users top the 2 billion mark of which almost 300 million are in North America, 800 million in Asia, 450 million in Europe, 70 million in Africa, 200 million in Latin America & the Caribbean and 20 million in Australia and New Zealand.

Business owners are starting to wake up to the fact that they need to actively engage in social media marketing but many are unsure how to go about it. Maybe I can help from my own experiences here.

There are currently over 30,000 social media sites but this number is increasing by 300 each month and where do you start? Where do you focus your time and energy to get a return on your investment? It can seem like a minefield.

Whatever industry you're in, you can create useful information in the form of blogs, articles and videos to share that others will find value in and learn from. You don't blatantly sell your products or services in social media. Your valuable content that is informative, educational and entertaining, enables consumers to get to know and trust you first. It then leads them from your social media sites to your website and that's when you do your sales pitch. That's how social media marketing works.

The three top giants that have become household names that I would recommend are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Facebook has over 600 million active users and these people are logging in for an average of half an hour each day so you need to get your messages in front of them. This represents a massive marketing opportunity so you'll need a Facebook Page.

Twitter has been around for over five years amounting to over 10 billion tweets sent which equates to around 50 million tweets each day and this number is rising rapidly. It's the place to find out what's happening in the world. It provides instant updates on almost any topic.

Another giant is YouTube, the second largest Search Engine to Google and owned by Google, streaming over 2 billion videos each day. Every minute, twenty-four hours of new video footage is uploaded and the average person spends fifteen minutes a day on YouTube viewing content, representing another massive marketing opportunity.

If you implement some of these strategies into your business, you'll be heading in the right direction for sure.

Lindsey Rowe is an Internet Marketer and Online Business Entrepreneur, she's also an ordinary mum working from home. If you would like to view the system that's allowing Lindsey financial control of her life, click on the link below and you will go to Lindsey's website where you will meet Jay Kubassek. Jay is the CEO of the community of expert Internet Marketers that Lindsey is working with. It could be a system that's perfect for you too. Why not take a look for yourself.

http://CopyTheExperts.com/?t=%3Ft%3Darticle8SMedia

Lindsey Rowe
lindseyannerowe@gmail.com
http://www.LindseyRowe.com

Article by Lindsey Rowe Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6457542

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4 Strategies For The Mom Entrepreneur

If you're a mom entrepreneur you know what it is like to have a burning desire to be creative, accomplish goals, and make money doing it. Most of you had jobs and careers before starting a family and you're yearning to get back into the mix. Some of you want to start a career for the first time. Either way, you want to do something challenging, yet still have the time to keep your family as your main focus.

The best way to kick-start your work at home career is to find proven strategies for the mom entrepreneur. 4 strategies to get you going starting your business are: having the right mindset and support, finding what is suitable for you the mom, evaluating your past experiences, and taking a look at your current interests and daily habits. If you take action with these strategies you will start down the road of entrepreneurial success.

1) Mindset and Support. Having the right positive beliefs and the right support system can make or break the start of your business. You need to be properly motivated and ready to face challenges. Passion is the key and so is persistence. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your business. But days add up, and before you know it, you'll be successful. You can't do it alone, so having your spouse and a few trusty friends and family members to support you will really help keep you on track, and keep your priorities in order. A life or business coach, especially moms who have start their own businesses, is a great idea for those who need someone to show it can be done.

2) What Suits You. Finding what suits your strengths and skills is the first step on the road of business success. Whatever talents, experiences, and abilities you have, use them. It doesn't matter if you have previous experience in business with those things because everyone starts fresh at some point in their careers. Find some people like a friend or a business coach to help you realize strengths you may not know you have. After you discover where your talents lay, take action, and believe, and you will find success.

3) Your experience. Look back at the jobs you've had in the past, or if you had a career before a family, remember the goals you had then. Think about the things you have done, learned and experienced. You can start your own home based business in a field you've already been involved in. Experience matters, and while you can find success in niches unfamiliar to you, it's always best to 'write about you know' or do what you know. Think hard about your experiences, and you may just find your next career path, one you can do at home while raising a family.

4) Your daily tasks and interests could become gold. What you do day to day from child care to baking to crafts to photography can become a new career. Whatever you do a lot, and do well, consider for a potential home based business. Even if you're not sure where to go with your skill, hobby or talent, you can find others who are ready and willing to work with you. Research various freelance opportunities that exist online. You can find communities and business opportunities in just about every type of interest that's out there. If you're a writer, a blogger, a forum poster, etc, you can find plenty of work opportunity. You can be an affiliate, and market already made products and services, in any niche. In fact, most home based opportunities online are affiliate based. Simply Google freelance work and you'll find opportunities. You can also find sites that list Freelance jobs, and sites that list Affiliate Marketing as well. Search for the site ClickBank and you can find plenty of opportunities.

No matter your experience or what type of work you'd like to do, there are plenty of opportunities to start you career at home. You can be a mom entrepreneur too. Simply have the right mindset and support, find what suits you, remember what you're good at, and look at your daily life to find new inspiration. Get a mom coach too and get started today.

Since 2008 Dr. Kasia Greco has been helping corporate moms with a family work from home with their own successful businesses. Dr. Greco holds a BBA "cum laudem" in International Business Administration with a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Economics. Kasia has 2 kids and left the corporate world to spend more time with her family, and discovered that with the right mindset she could accomplish both her family dreams and her career dreams. Visit moms-u-can.com to get free training from Kasia on how to follow in her footsteps. Get more great training by visiting this link: Mom Entrepreneur.

Article by Katarzyna Greco
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6556464

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Posted in: Mumprenuers