Mom Entrepreneurs: It's all about the attitude - get yours adjusted

My son loves to play baseball. When he is not playing baseball, he is watching the Red Sox game or reading a book about baseball. It is his passion; it is his focus. He tells me he will be a professional baseball player some day.

What are you passionate about? What is your focus?

My son is the shortest player on his Allstar baseball team. His teammates tower over him by a good two inches or more. He is not as strong as the other boys on the team. He is the underdog.

But he has the right attitude!

Every practice he arrives early for warm ups. He runs on to the field and he hustles back off. He listens to what the coach is trying to teach him. He cheers for his teammates when he is warming the bench and tells them "good job!" He practices for hours at home...batting, catching, pitching, etc. He wants to be the best.

Two days ago, my son's baseball team won the championship game in their tournament. My son...was named MVP for the season and given the game ball. His coaches commended him for many things, but most of all, his attitude.

Are you an underdog? Are you fighting against a negative cash flow, lack of work, too much competition, and other issues everyday?

Remember to believe in yourself, try your best, listen to the advice of seasoned mom entrepreneurs, practice at making your business better everyday and change your attitude. If you believe you are the best at what you do...then you will be!

Last day to register for Facebook for Business Webinar on Thursday, 7/23

On Thursday, July 23rd at 1:00pm EST, The Mom Entrepreneur will host Christine Gallagher of Communicate Value who will present Learn How Facebook Can Help You Reach Potential Customers and Rapidly Grow Your Business (Part 1).

This interactive Webinar will explain how to apply Facebook marketing techniques to a small business, add Facebook to your Business Marketing Plan without spending a ton of time or money and “socialize” in under 15 minutes a day while attracting interest and attention to your business. Part 2 of this seminar will be presented in September.

The event is sponsored by Me Time apparel company, which offers tips, articles, products and advice for busy ladies at its site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO REGISTER, please click here...>

You can also listen to a podcast interview with the presenter about what will be offered during the Webinar.

Make summer safer for your children with Mosquito 86

Every summer I worry about the many pests that invade our yard and home. Wasps build nests under the eaves of our house, swinging chair and in the ground. Ants of all sizes invite their relatives to move into our house for the season, and mosquitoes are highly abundant no matter how many bats we try to attract to our bat boxes.

This year we have had days upon days of endless rain. Soggy weather is an open invitation for ants to move in to a home, and puddles are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

I worry about the dangers of West Nile virus, which is spread by infected mosquitoes, and can cause serious, life-altering and even fatal disease. I worry about my children and curious puppy getting stung by wasps, and in past summers, the ant population in our home has been so thick that I would have to vacuum up ant bodies daily. I am also particularly worried about Lyme disease, which both my mom and a friend have contracted over the past few years.

This year, I was invited to test the Mosquito 86TM Pest Eradication System. Mosquito 86 is a professional-grade mosquito elimination system that operates as an attachment to a common hand-held yard or leaf blower to turn it into an extraordinarily effective mosquito killing machine.

Developed and manufactured by Roll, LLC, Mosquito 86 integrates an ordinary leaf blower and a patent-pending spray system, which uses liqui-shear™ technology to disperse a water dilution of a permethrin-based pesticide solution known as Mosquito 86 “Agent E” into a fine mist.

I was extremely concerned about the effects spraying this pesticide would have on humans, pets and the environment. After conducting some additional research about our health and environmental concerns on the manufacturer's website and the Dirt Therapy Blog, we decided to give it a try.

Mosquito 86 is most effective on mosquitoes, ants, biting flies, gnats, fleas and ticks. Mosquito 86 Agent E is EPA approved and safe around humans and pets.

After the first application, we noticed an immediate decrease in the amount of mosquitoes as did visitors to our home who knew we were famous for our large mosquito population. One application was not a good enough test in my opinion. Perhaps environmental changes were responsible for the decrease. The amount of rain in our area was higher than normal so we tested for several months, spraying every 1-3 weeks depending on how much rain we had.

I recently purchased four more 8 oz. bottles because I was so impressed with the results.

Our wasp and mosquito population decreased, and this was the first year in 11 years of owning our home that we have not been invaded by ants. Most days we can go outside and enjoy the weather without having to load up on bug spray.

I am not certain how effective the product has been on our tick population. My children attend summer camp where they are exposed to ticks. So far, we have only pulled one tick off the dog and none off the cats. The dog also attends doggy daycare so she could have brought her tick friend home from there.

Mosquito 86 is easy to operate. It is best to use the system right after dusk when mosquitoes begin to appear from the shadows and take flight. It will take about 15 minutes to apply Mosquito 86 to the average home. The manufacturer says that results are immediate, with the majority of local mosquitoes eliminated within 24 hours of the first use. This link to a video demonstration gives more info: www.mosquito86.com/video.php.

With any pesticide product it is best to exercise caution and do your homework especially when using around kids and pets. Children are far more susceptible to chemicals and pollutants than adults and the increased rate of childhood illnesses is cause for alarm. It is a "catch-22" when you compare the dangers of West Nile virus and Lyme disease to the spraying of pesticides. For more information, visit www.cehi.org/pesticides.html.

A full list of products can be found online at http://www.mosquito86.com/ where Mosquito 86 is sold. Mosquito 86 can also be purchased on http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.target.com/, http://www.northlineexpress.com/ as well as at independent retailers.

The Mosquito 86TM Pest Eradication System earns a Top Pick award from The Mom Entrepreneur. I will be a loyal consumer of this product for many summers to come.

Why can't we just play baseball together? What Dr. Seuss and our children teach us about friendship.

I am a mom of two boys - two boys who love to play baseball.

Yesterday, we attended a BBQ hosted by some new friends we met through our youngest son's daycare. When we arrived the only person I knew was the mom and her son. I enjoy meeting new people, but it always seems awkward.

I believe society has taught us to compare ourselves to one another in less than favorable ways.

I have "rich" friends and "poor" friends, "fat" friends and "skinny" friends.

I have friends who are "straight" and others who are "gay"; some who are dark-skinned, light-skinned and others who have skin problems.

I have friends who want you to know that they make more money than you and others who never discuss their wealth.

I have friends with "style" and others who could benefit from a fashion coordinator.

I have friends who greet you with a hug, a handshake a cordial hello.

I am grateful for all of my friends, but often wish forming friendships was simpler.

There are lessons we can learn from our children about making friends. My oldest son did not know anyone at the BBQ when we arrived so he picked up a bat and ball and started playing baseball.

About 15 minutes later, a family we had never met arrived. They had an older son and younger daughter. Within 5 minutes, the boy approached my son and asked “can I pitch to you?”

Wait…there was no discussion about who has the larger allowance, who has more Pokémon cards, or whose grades were higher on their last report cards.

A wise friend recently reminded me that we are all created equal. The effects of the economy have helped remind us of this simple truth.

Remember “The Sneetches” - a story written by Dr. Seuss about a group of creatures who live on a beach? Some Sneetches have a green star on their bellies ("in crowd") and others do not. In the end, neither plain-belly nor star-belly Sneetches was superior, and they were able to get along and become friends.

Whether you choose to take the advice of Dr. Seuss or continue to follow the trends of society; I would challenge you to take pause and observe what our children teach us everyday about meeting new people, friendship and having fun.

The next time you have the opportunity to meet someone and make a new friend, simply ask: “do you want to play baseball?”

Help a fellow mom entrepreneur gather information for her book

I am helping Danielle Botterell of Admiral Road Designs who is a member of The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group gather information for a book she is writing about being a mom entrepreneur. She needs more real experiences and insights from other mom entrepreneurs to tell the whole story.

With your help, she hopes to provide some great information and advice to the women who have not yet taken the leap into their own mom entrepreneurial ventures.

All of your responses in this survey are completely confidential. The only way they can contact you is if you choose to be contacted (indicate at the end of the survey).

To complete a 10-15 minute survey, please click here...>. Thanks for your help and support by contributing to this important project!

Two Great Teleseminars coming in July hosted by The Mom Entrepreneur

On July 15th at 1:00pm EST, Joan Stewart of The Publicity Hound will present How to Promote Your Expertise in Traditional and Social Media & Generate Thousands of Dollars in Free Publicity. This teleseminar will explain how to secure publicity through traditional and social media. Participants will learn how the rules surrounding publicity have changed and how critical it is to leverage social media outlets – in addition to more “traditional” media – to maximize impact. It’s sponsored by WAHMBizBuilder, which provides tips for a profitable and sane work-from-home business.

On July 23rd at 1:00pm EST, Christine Gallagher of Communicate Value will present Learn How Facebook Can Help You Reach Potential Customers and Rapidly Grow Your Business (Part 1). This interactive Webinar will explain how to apply Facebook marketing techniques to a small business, add Facebook to your Business Marketing Plan without spending a ton of time or money and “socialize” in under 15 minutes a day while attracting interest and attention to your business. Part 2 of this seminar will be presented in September. It’s sponsored by Me Time apparel company, which offers tips, articles, products and advice for busy ladies at its site.

For a complete listing of upcoming topics and speakers, and to register for these events, please click here...>

Are you truly putting family first before your business?

Many mom entrepreneurs struggle with this question daily. Of course we know family comes first, but it is not always easy to make sure your significant other and children know that.

I use to think my career came first. After I was married and before kids - that is what I told one friend. I still remember that day sitting on the beach with her...I can hear the words coming out of my mouth. It is painful to remember.

Ask any mom entrepreneur and they will tell you family comes first. And they will be sincere about it. Ask them if they are truly putting family first and most will say "no".

It took me eight years to figure out how to put family first. It was a very hard learning experience, filled with arguments with my husband, comments from disappointed kids and concerns from relatives who never saw me.

I honestly thought I was putting family first. It wasn't until April 2008 that officially I flipped the switch.

Here is how I make it work:

• I moved my office back home and took my son out of daycare.
• I no longer travel.
• I am very particular about the clients I work with - I take the time to learn more about them as a person - will my "family first" motto fit with their beliefs?
• I changed my work week to Monday - Thursday and spend Fridays with my youngest son who is not yet in school.
• I changed the message on my voice mail to say that I will be returning calls between 10:00am - 2:30pm, Mon - Thurs so clients clearly know when I will be in touch with them and when I am out.
• I told the occasional client who called me at home that it was not OK to do so anymore.
• I thank clients when I have to switch their phone conference or meeting because my children have a sporting event or field trip.
• I send weekly progress reports to clients about projects so they are clear about what has been accomplished on their account and if there are any unresolved issues.
• I purchased a Blackberry so I can monitor client emergencies via email when I am away from my home office.
• I only schedule evening phone conferences and Twitter parties after the kids are in bed.
• If I say I am going to spend the day with my kids, I stick to my promise.
• I clearly explain to my kids what my work and my play hours are.

This process has worked extremely well. I still have one client who tries to bend my "family first" motto. He waits and calls me on Friday and leaves an "urgent" message. He then leaves a message on my cell phone. I have been working with this for client many years so I know him very well. He is well aware I am off on Fridays. His call is promptly returned on Monday morning and he is fine. He is a family man so I would expect him to understand.

Your clients are extremely important, but NOT more important than family. By making sure clients know when you are available and when you will be in touch with them helps the transition from "work getting in the way" to "family first" a smoother one.

I would love to hear any additional tips or suggestions you have on how to truly put family first.

Shop The Summer Mom Entrepreneur Co-op Shop and party with us on Twitter to celebrate!

The Mom Entrepreneur Co-op Shop is celebrating summer with a new line up of products and services for the season. If you are looking for variety and great bargains then you need to visit our newly redesigned shop.

This summer, the Co-op Shop features many products and services that are perfect for warm weather celebrations – Fourth of July, Family Reunion Month, American Adventures Month – as well as beach days, vacations & staycations, barbeques, swimming and other summertime activities. Our Shop has something for everyone, including moms, kids, dads, and business professionals

To celebrate, we are holding our fourth Twitter party on Tuesday, July 7th from 9:30 pm - 10:30 pm EST. We will be announcing our summer line up of offerings at the Co-op Shop, sharing tips for balancing motherhood and running a company, and giving away some amazing prizes.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, and chat the evening away with dozens of mom entrepreneurs.

Following is a list of the fantastic prizes you will have a chance to win:

• A Baby Dipper bowl and spoon set. Valued at $9.99.
• Ma Mi Skin Care Reawaken Cleanser and Nightshift Eye Serum gift set. Valued at $53.00.
• 1 month membership from Care4Hire to their caregiver database. Valued at $29.99.
• Copy of Turn Your Business Card Into Business by Reno Lovison from The Mom Entrepreneur. Valued at $17.95.
• 5 packages of gLovies from My Mom Knows Best as a giveaway. Valued at $24.95.
• A Heaven Cent Album from Heaven's Pennies. Valued at $14.95.
• Copy of Corporate Mom Dropouts from Lucinda Cross and a 1-hour consultation. Valued at $250.00.
• Copy of Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom by Stephanie Nelson from The Mom Entrepreneur. Valued at $17.99.

Twitter party attendees will be asked simple quiz questions and will need to visit the Co-op Shop to find the answer. Tweet the answer and include the hashtag code #TMEcoop.

Winners will be determined by a sequence of random numbers, which will be generated using Random.org. Public recognition will be given to the winners in Twitter who will need to email their name, email address and phone number to traci@themomentrepreneur.com.

To attend the party, simply follow @TMECoopShop or visit tweetchat.com, enter the code #TMEcoop and follow the party's conversation. And don't forget to shop The Mom Entrepreneur Co-op Shop for summer bargains.

Make sure you are also following the Co-op Shop on Twitter to be alerted about special offers and sales from now until the end of summer.

Has the advice given in this blog been useful?

I have been writing this blog since April of 2008. I have shared business advice, tips on how to balance being a mom and business owner, technology links, managing family schedules, product reviews, mom entrepreneur features and much, much more. I hope what I have offered has been useful as you grow and learn as a mom, mom entrepreneur or woman entrepreneur.

If yes, I would love it if you would offer a review of this blog on Amazon. We recently registered the blog with Amazon so that it could be downloaded into a Kindle. Any help you can offer with spreading the word about what we have to offer is much appreciated.

To complete a review on Amazon, please click here...>, then scroll down and click "create your own review". Many thanks for your continued support!

What would you do if you had a free evening?

A typical week at our home:

• Monday night - youngest son's soccer practice
• Tuesday night - oldest son's baseball practice
• Wednesday night - puppy training class and oldest son's baseball scrimmage
• Thursday night - oldest son's baseball practice
• Friday night - baseball tournament
• Saturday - baseball tournaments - double header
• Sunday - baseball tournament
• Monday - repeat the previous week's schedule for 6 more weeks

Hard to find time to grocery shop, cook and eat a decent meal or even breathe. We run in the door after a day at work and summer camp, change and run back out the door. For Thursday and Friday's baseball tournaments, we had to be at the field for 2:45pm. Don't these coaches know that parents work for a living?

Last night, Wednesday, the baseball scrimmage was cancelled. My husband took the puppy to training. I had to pinch myself. I was spending an evening at home. I was so excited that I cooked a turkey pot pie and blueberry muffins from scratch.

What would you do if you had a free evening?

My Top 10 List of "Must Haves" for Moms in Business

A few months ago, I was invited to speak at the local MOMS club meeting. They had several members who owned businesses and they wanted me to talk about tips and techniques for managing the balancing act.

As many mom entrepreneurs might agree, the balancing act can be a tricky one. I do feel however that there are certain strategies and resources you can put in place to make it a bit easier on yourself.

Here is my Top 10 list (in no particular order), which I shared with the group:

1. Passion - don't start a business unless you are passionate about it. It is not worth the hassle and heartache to become an entrepreneur, work at something you do not enjoy and then try to balance family on top of that.
2. Plan - have a plan before starting your business. Otherwise, both time and money will be wasted. As mom entrepreneurs, we don't have a lot of time, and in this economy who has money? If you have time to write a full business plan great. However, this is unrealistic for most. According to Mike Michalowizc, the three-sheet strategy is just as effective. This strategy consists of a prosperity plan (the vision for your business), quarterly plan (the path of your business) and the daily metrics (health measurement of your business). You can learn all about this effective strategy by listening to the The 3 Sheet Strategy To Dramatic Business Growth (Especially in A Down Economy) Podcast.
3. Cash Flow - you have to constantly be aware of what your cash is and is not doing for you. By keeping track of your payables and receivables and reviewing daily, you can make educated and informed decisions about the health of your business. To download a sample template, click here...>
4. Business Consultant - I highly recommend hiring a consultant who is knowledgeable about business growth. I made some critical mistakes in my business and finally realized what I did wrong once I hired a business consultant. Unfortunately, I hired her after the mistakes were made. I was very fortunate that my business did not fold all together. Hiring a consultant is a necessary business expense and one that you will see a huge return on investment (ROI) for. I work with Gail Zona of Next Step Business and recommend her services.
5. Get Connected Socially - it is critical to be connected socially. With the rate of people connecting online increasing exponentially, you are seriously hurting your business if you are not one of them. Networking online is not difficult or scary, but there is a process and a certain etiquette that must be followed in order to build online communities, relationships and ultimately transact business properly. You can learn how to do it the right way by listening to the How To Build Influence and Increase Your Profits Using Social Media Podcast with Scott Bradley of Networking Effectively.
6. Professional Support - in addition to hiring a business consultant, you should also have other professionals on your team. This includes a lawyer, accountant, HR professional and investment advisor. When I submitted my business plan to the bank, this was required information. Ask for referrals from friends and colleagues, and conduct interviews to locate the professionals that believe in your business vision. I also recommend connecting with hundreds of savvy mom entrepreneurs for networking and support through our Online Support Group.
7. Personal Support - as a mom entrepreneur, the personal support is just as important as the professional support. This may include a daycare provider, nanny, housekeeper, friend, family, etc. You cannot do it all yourself, but with help, you can manage. If you do not have friends or family nearby that can help out, then I recommend a service like Care4Hire, which can connect you with qualified help in your area.
8. Keep Up With Trends - The Mom Entrepreneur has been successful in its business growth goals because the industry trends indicate huge opportunity in the mom entrepreneur market especially in the U.S., Canada and U.K. You must always be aware if the need for your products and/or services is growing or declining with your target market(s). Not having this information at your finger tips can be detrimental to the success of your business. Some simple indicators you can tap into include Google Alerts and Google Trends.
9. Stay True to Yourself - remember that your health and well being is just as important as the health and well being of your family and business. If you do not take care of yourself, then how do you expect to grow a happy and successful family and business.
10. Keep the Faith - do not give up on your entrepreneurial pursuits or get discouraged. Growing a business and balancing a family is supposed to be tough. If it was not tough, we would not be challenged and easily become bored. Remember everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you have to search long and hard to find the reason or you may never understand why it happened. Just keep your head up and continue moving forward!

Do you have additional tips or techniques for managing the mom entrepreneur balancing act? Please share!