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- EPnews -- from The Entrepreneurial
Parent
a work-family resource for home-based entrepreneurs
@ www.en-parent.com
January 12, 2000
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Do you find EPnews useful?
Please forward to a friend, or recommend it to your favorite
Web site or
e-zine. Thanks for your support!
For easy reading, simply print
out this newsletter.
_______________CONTENTS_______________
- The Funny Things EP Kids Say
& Do!
EP Times -- "The (LOUD) Music of Parenthood"
Making Money Matters -- Babylounge.com
What's Happening at EP
We Recommend
ka-Ching/Oxygen Media Spotlight
MORE Funny Things EP Kids Say & Do!
__________________________
Editorial Note: EPnews is back
to a twice-monthly schedule with an all-new
automated mailing service from ONElist.com. We are now splitting
the content
and will shift between Lisa & deB's editorials and other
selected columns.
EPnews is distributed the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month.
The
Entrepreneurial Parent web site is updated on an ongoing basis
throughout
each month -- feel free to check in regularly via the What's
New banner on
our homepage (en-parent.com).
Welcome all new subscribers!
~____~_~____~_~____~_~____~_~____~_~_____~
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THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY & DO!
=====
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber Marie
Sullivan (mailto:[email protected]):
=====
I was driving my girls, ages
8 and 10, to school this morning. My oldest
daughter, Danielle, was sitting in the back seat of the car.
As we approached
a stop sign I heard her say, in a serious voice, "Mom, there's
something
wrong with my eye."
I turned around to look. There WAS something wrong. It was big,
round and
bright orange. She was holding an orange up to her eye socket.:)
I laughed at
her imagination. Danielle said, "I just had to make you
laugh!"
=====
Why work at home? So you can hear the funny things your EP Kids
say
throughout the day. Share with the EP Community something your
child said
or did recently that made you smirk, giggle, or LOL. Send your
submission
via e-mail to:[email protected].
And if you need a stockpile of smiles
to get you through your EP day, pick up your own heartwarming
copy of Grace
Housholder's "The Funny Things Kids Say":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963871536/theentrepreneuri.
On those
stressed-out EP days, you'll be glad you did!
____________________________________
EP TIMES
-- AN EDITORIAL
"The (LOUD) Music of Parenthood"
© 2000, Lisa M. Roberts
Wow, that was neat -- changing
the 1999 to 2000 copyright date. So here we
are, folks. It happened. A new year, a new century, a new millennium
clicked
over...and it looks like we all got safely to the "other
side." So now what?
Well for me, it's time to get
ready for yet another celebration. Little
Thomas, the child who was conceived at the same time I started
writing my
first book, is turning four later on this month. As I mentioned
in my
editorial last January, I can no longer refer to him as my "baby"
-- he's a
"real boy" now! And boy, is he for real. Ever-curious,
every-playful,
ever-messy, ever-LOUD, ever-demanding. Unlike this time last
year, it's hard
to still refer to him as a "sparkle" in my heart...he's
more like a
firecracker!
Like his older siblings, these
days Thomas seems to only emit that
angelic-baby-peace at night when he is sleeping. In the quiet
and calm of
tucked in blankets, dark rooms and distant nighttime sounds...all
four of
them join that divine space in time filled with harmony, happiness
and hope.
But that space is broken abruptly at the crack of the first waking
child's
dawn! And that crack whips my dreams right from under me EVERY
morning.
As I keep reminding my family,
I grew up in a very quiet home. I was the
youngest of three and both my siblings were considerably older
than I -- 6
and 9 years older. My brother was an aspiring pianist so I would
wake up each
morning to the music of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. My sister's
passion was
reading (the most silent of activities), and my parents were
more often than
not quietly occupied with household chores and projects. Noise?
That came
pouring in only during the holidays, when my cousins would tumble
in for
their visit.
Fast forward to 2000 and my family
at present. Four kids from tween to
pre-school, and a spouse who was weaned on country rock. Let's
just say I
very appropriately included ear plugs on my Holiday Wish List.
But guess who
got an electric guitar for Christmas? My 6-year old and 41-year
old -- yes,
two of them -- one a toy and one a BIGGER toy! While I admit
to thoroughly
enjoying the elder's new favorite pasttime (which lullabies me
as I fall
asleep), I am not at all encouraged that the volume of this household
is on
its way down. I insist on facing the new century based in reality.
The
rumblings of small children will grow into thunder sooner rather
than later.
And with a spouse who grew up banging drums in a basement band,
they clearly
have a father who knows how to lead the way.
So to me, 2000 marks the time
in my life when I start mourning not only the
peace and tranquility of my babies, but that of my own childhood.
Not that I
have any desire to be a kid again -- I really don't (OK, except
when I've got
the flu!) -- but I miss the calm, the structure, the effortless
days. Of
course I realize those "effortless" days were fashioned
through great effort
on the part of my parents, and more than ever I appreciate all
the work that
was behind the steady rhythm of my early life.
My mother likes to remind me
that life is always changing, nothing stays the
same. One look at Thomas and that's clear. Yet even though for
a long time I
craved such changes as greater freedom of movement -- that is,
not confined
by strollers and diaper bags and nursing schedules -- now that
I'm firmly on
this side of parenthood I see the tremendous workload still up
ahead. OK
sure, I signed up for this life twelve years ago and as always,
it's time to
move on. But honestly, must everyone be so noisy about it?
=====
Lisa Roberts
is the mother of four, Web Producer of The Entrepreneurial
Parent , LLC and the author of "How to Raise A Family
& A Career Under One Roof: A Parent's Guide to Home Business."
(Bookhaven Press, 1997) Copies of her book are available for
purchase at: http://en-parent.com/order.htm
and through Amazon, at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0943641179/theentrepreneuri
___________________________________
READER RESPONSE
Have a comment or question about
anything you read in EPnews? Hit reply to
this email and send it on in -- we'd love to hear from you!
=====
RE: "2000, The Year (The Century) of the EP" (December
15, 1999 issue)
I loved your article, especially
the part about the 20th century being a blip
in time that families were estranged from one another. This is
what I would
like to see also.
I think that the advances made
in the women's movement were a small victory,
but that the family unit has suffered as a result. It seems to
me that more
parents are seeing the importance of being available to their
children. With
advances in technology and increased education and experience
for women in
the workplace, we're at a place in time where we really can have
the best of
both worlds. This applies to men as well, I see more fathers
working at home
also while mothers take on traditional jobs. I think it's fabulous
for dads
to be at home with their children. I was born in the late 50's
<gasp!> and
grew up in the traditional family of the time. Fathers were the
bread winners
and mothers were the nurturers.
One of my brother-in-laws works
third shift and takes care of the kids during
the day while his wife works. He helps out at school functions,
makes
costumes for the kids, etc. He's exhausted by the time his wife
comes home,
but he's involved with his children's lives. I truly believe
that the long
term rewards of this time will pay off ten-fold.
Salutes to all of you EPs!
Jeralynn Burke
EP Forum Moderator
E-Scent-ials
Fine, quality natural aromatherapy products designed to indulge
the senses.
http://www.E-Scent-ials.com
_____________________________________
WHAT'S IT WORTH?
WIW will now run on the 4th Wednesdays
of every month.
=====
deB Sechrist is the mother of three, Webmanager of The Entrepreneurial
Parent, LLC and owner of deBweB, a web design business. Find
out more about
deB at http://www.en-parent.com/webdsn.htm.
____________________________________________
MAKING MONEY MATTERS
Being available to your kids
and managing a career under one roof sounds to
many like the best of both worlds, but without pulling in some
kind of income what's all the effort for? Making Money Matters!
Let's hear how YOU earn your keep as an EP. (Please keep in mind
that this column is here to spark marketing ideas for the already-established
EP, not a
venue to recruit aspiring EPs into a business opportunity, so
no MLM or
packaged business opportunity submissions please.) To take our
survey,
mailto:[email protected]
with the subject heading "MMM Survey." We look
forward to hearing more about you!
This month Shawn Collins, Co-Founder
of Babylounge.com and
EP Dad to 7-month
old Caitlin, shares his marketing tips with us. His contact info
is:
Shawn Collins
Co-founder
BabyLounge.com
mailto:[email protected]
Ph: (973) 921-0852
=====
1. In a 2-3 sentence statement, explain what your home business
is about,
including your target market and "mission statement."
My company, BabyLounge.com,
is an online birth announcement service, as well
as a baby portal that is targeted towards expectant and new parents.
BabyLounge.com is a Mom & Pop company with Mom being a stay
at home Mom, and
Pop doing BabyLounge.com work on evenings and weekends. Our mission
is to
provide an affordable, fun and unique service to new parents,
while making
ends meet at home.
2. What are the most popular
products and/or services you sell? How much do
you sell them for (or what's your hourly rate), and how did you
find the
right price/fee schedule for them?
Currently, we sell two products:
online birth announcements that come in
three packages ($50, $75, $100, plus a free version), and MoM
site block
software ($20). The price points for the online birth announcements
were
determined by researching the competition, as well as the going
rate for
various baby gifts. The MoM software is a set price established
by the
software company that we have partnered with to sell the software.
3. What are *your* favorite products
and/or services? Why do you like to sell
them?
My favorite is the online birth
announcement. We came upon the idea because
we wanted to share our baby with friends and family around the
world. After
we received a wonderful response, we decided to go into business
with the
idea. It's really rewarding to get feedback from the family and
friends (and
of course the parents) when they get to see the
online birth announcements.
4. Tell us a bit about your marketing
campaign. When did you start noticing
your first sales (after which marketing technique), what marketing
efforts
have you noticed yield the greatest results, and how do you make
your first
contact and subsequent sales (via online, phone, fax, mail, face-to-face)?
We market in a variety of ways:
we've optimized the site for search engine
rankings, established partnerships with successful baby and parenting
sites
to exchange traffic, sent out press releases, sent out web cards
(postcards
with a screen shot of our Web site), posted announcements to
newsgroups and
discussion lists, and established an
affiliate program.
The first big surge of traffic
and sales came when we were listed in Yahoo.
After that, the steady traffic and sales can be attributed to
our affiliate
program. We have low overhead, so we are able to pay affiliates
20% of every
sale that they refer to us. Generally, our entire transaction
is completed
online, though we do communicate by mail with customers that
are not able to
transmit photographs digitally.
5. Any additional comments are
welcome.
We noticed that a good amount
of traffic comes from the search engines, but
most of it does not convert into a sale. We attribute this to
a lack of
targeted traffic that is directed to the site by mistake in some
cases. For
this reason, we created a new pregnancy, birth, baby and parenting
search
engine: the BabyLounge.com Search Stroller at
http://www.babylounge.com/stroller.shtml
to help other baby sites gain
exposure.
_____________________________________
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT EP
1.) EP Gift Basket Contest
We have a winner! Linda Raee-Foshtami
of Sunland, CA was randomly selected to
receive our first EP Gift Basket. Here are some words from Linda,
and the
items she has selected:
=====
"In 1994 I started a business named Graphics by Linda, worked
out of my home
and at first held down a full time job as well. I made computer
personalized
cards, stationary, etc and also designed flyers and brochures.
In 1998 I was
put on disability by my doctor who said I couldn't work anymore
so I quit the
job and tried to keep Graphics by Linda going but because of
poor health, could not. I really enjoy your site and am very
happy I found it. I wish I would have been connected with you
when I started my business. Thanks, and I am very pleased to
be your December winner!
Thanks...this is exciting...my
choices are as follows:
Wearable Mammas T shirt - Celebrate
Design - (www.lollygag.com/mamas)
Mother Beads - necklace and bracelet in blue colors - (www.motherbeads.com)
Escent-ials - Petpourri & Bath Bag (www.E-Scent-ials.com)
Keystone - CD preferably country...just not rock - (www.keystoneconnect.com)
Coyotes Corner - one of their beautiful blankets in aqua - (www.coyotescorner.com)
EP-tote bag - (www.en-parent.com)"
=====
Do you want to win our next EP
Gift Basket -- filled with $100 worth of
donated prizes from EPs that YOU select? As an EPnews Subscriber,
you're
automatically eligible to enter! Just go to the following URL
and take this
month's poll:
http://en-parent.com/contest.htm
And see what our Contest Sponsors
are offering this month at:
http://en-parent.com/contest-sponsors.htm
2.) EP December Poll
We polled over 100 EPs during
our December contest...and learned so much
about why and how EPs make the leap into self-employment. Again,
the question
was:
"What was the key catalyst
that gave you the courage and ability to start
your own home business?"
Here were some results:
=====
Surprising:
Is insufficient childcare the
No. 1 motivating force for parents to become
"EPs"? No! Only 1.8% specifically named childcare as
an issue.
Burn-out, elder care, being bored,
recent purchase of a computer,
unemployment, health issues and simply having guts all scored
the same...very
low on the totem pole of home biz catalysts.
=====
Not Surprising:
Top reasons for becoming an EP:
To earn money, to be my own boss, to be with
my children, to have a flexible work schedule, because I had
the support of
family and friends.
Are EPs more reactive or proactive?
Proactive -- 65.2% *went after* something
they saw positive in the EP lifestyle, while only 34.8% saw themselves
*fleeing* from a bad situation.
=====
Next month:
"What's Your No. 1 Business
Resolution for the New Millennium??"
(Aspiring minds want to know!
Go to: http://en-parent.com/contest.htm
and
tell us)
2.) EP Gift Shop
We're impressed with the wide
selection of quality gift items in our EP Gift
Shop, our "Mom and Pop Gift Shop for the New Millennium."
We hope by now all
EPnews Subscribers have at least taken a look to see the original
work of
your fellow EPs at:
http://en-parent.com/gift.htm
Are you an EP who sells an original
product? It's time to get in gear for the
Valentine's Day promo. We're now accepting new applications for
annual
booths, from February 1, 2000 to February 1, 2001. Also, if anyone
with a
booth would like to update their product photos from a Christmas
to
Valentine's Day focus, feel free to send us an email and we'll
take care of
it.
FYI, inclusion in the EP Gift
Shop is FREE to NAEP members, so if you've been
thinking about joining the National Association of Entrepreneurial
Parents
(NAEP) at the annual rate of $45.00, this is a good time to do
it. Otherwise
a booth is still a low-cost advertising venue for only $25.00/year.
To sign up for your booth at
the EP Gift Shop, go to:
http://en-parent.com/giftorder.htm
To learn more about all of the
NAEP membership benefits, go directly to:
http://en-parent.com/membership2.htm
And to shop at the EP Gift Shop,
go to:
http://en-parent.com/gift.htm
_____________________________________
MEMBER-TO-MEMBER Q&As
Sometimes fellow EPs are the
best experts, especially when it comes to
balancing work and family under one roof. Have a question you'd
like to pose
to fellow EPnews Subscribers? Hit reply to this email and send
it on in!
We'll consider running it in our next issue.
_____________________________________
WE RECOMMEND
Woman's Work
www.womans-work.com
=====
FreetimeJobs.com
www.freetimejobs.com
=====
Child Secure
www.childsecure.com
=====
_____________________________________
KA-CHING SPOTLIGHT
Lisa's column at Oxygen Media's
business & finance site, www.ka-ching.com,
runs Friday afternoons and throughout every weekend. The latest
columns are
titled:
"Home Office Resolutions
for 2000"
"Work at Home Options for the New Millennium"
"Get Off the Couch and Out of the Cookie Jar! Staying Focused
When You Work
at Home"
You can catch the links at:
http://www.ka-ching.com/business
___________________________________
THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY & DO!
Let's close up this e-zine with
another :-)!
=====
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber Elisa Dunham (mailto:[email protected]):
=====
One day my 2-year old daughter
was sitting on the floor and whimpering that
she got hurt. I asked her where she was hurting and she answered,
"I hurt my
two-head." I didn't quite understand her and asked her to
repeat and she said
it again. My 6 year old burst out laughing when she figured it
out and
proceeded to tell me that her sister hurt her forehead.
I'm very glad to be home with
my precious loves and these moments are so much
fun. Blessings to all!
___________________________
CONTACT/SUBSCRIPTION INFO
The Entrepreneurial Parent, LLC
is not engaged in rendering legal or
financial advice. If expert assistance is required, the services
of a
licensed professional should be sought.
This newsletter may be redistributed
freely via the Internet. Re-publishing
of separate articles for your print publication needs approval
first; write
to: [email protected] for permission.
© 2000, The Entrepreneurial
Parent, LLC
Editor: Lisa M. Roberts
EP Webmaster: Deborah Sechrist
POB 320722, Fairfield, CT 06432; http://en-parent.com
Ph:/Fax: (203) 371-6212, Email: [email protected]
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