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EPnews -- from The Entrepreneurial Parent
a work-family resource for home-based entrepreneurs
@ http://www.en-parent.com
June 14, 2000
Lisa Roberts, Editor: [email protected]
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_______________CONTENTS_______________
Take our EPnews Survey -- Win
a Free Ad OR Book!
The Funny Things EP Kids Say & Do
EP Times -- "Take Me Out of the Ballgame, Dad!"
Making Money Matters -- Debbie Kane, Financial Consultant
What's Happening at EP -- Site Revamp Update + More
New Book Reviews of "How to Raise a Family & a Career
Under One Roof"
_________________________________________
Editorial Note: 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!
___________________________________
EPNEWS READER SURVEY
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of "How to Raise a Family & a Career Under One
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improving EPnews
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Q: Please rate the following
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___ The Funny Things EP Kids
Say & Do!
___ EP of the Month
___ EP Times
___ What's It Worth?
___ Making Money Matters
___ What's Happening at EP
___ EP Expert Q&As
___ We Recommend
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mailto:[email protected]
___________________________________
THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY & DO!
=====
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber, Jeanine Garcia, EP to Shelby,
just turned 3
(mailto:[email protected]):
My business partner (Terri White)
and I own WhiteSmith Marketing Group, Inc.
We operate the business out of our homes. We do market planning,
research and
advertising for a diverse customer base. One day, after overhearing
me on a
business call, my son Zach came in and said, "Mom I know
who 'WhiteSmith'
is." I asked, "Who?" He said "Terri is White
and you are Smith and that makes
WhiteSmith." I said, "You are so right." He then
continued, "And I know who
the 'Group' is." Curious, I asked, "Who?" He said
"Us, the kids.....me,
Mollie, Ross and Liam." (Mollie is my daughter and Ross
& Liam are Terri's
boys).
I never thought of it that way
before but I assured him that yes, the kids
WERE the "Group" in WhiteSmith Marketing Group. After
all, the reason we work
from our homes is to be available for our children.....so why
not!
=====
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."
On those stressed-out EP days, you'll be glad you did!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963871536/theentrepreneuri
__________________________________
EP TIMES -- AN EDITORIAL
"Take Me Out of the Ballgame,
Dad!"
© 2000, Lisa M. Roberts
Use to be that "Take me
out to the ballgame!" meant peanuts, crackerjacks and
a chance to yell like a maniac in a cheering crowd. As a parent
of a child in
Little League, it now means keeping track of a twice-weekly laundered
uniform
(including the elusive cap and cup!) and orchestrating too-frequent
lessons
in winning/losing gracefully. As an EP, it also means relief
from long hours
in the home office as you cheer with the other parents from the
sidelines...or coach with the other Dads in the dugout.
But regardless of what "Take
me out to the ballgame" means to me, I am
certain it means something quite different, and much more, to
my 10-year old
son William and fortysomething husband, Ron. Ron has been coaching
William's
team since T-ball; at the end of this season, they are both about
ready for
the "Majors." Interestingly enough, over the years
I've noticed that to them,
the flip side of the phrase -- "Take me out OF the ballgame"
-- is an almost
welcome refrain from its sing-song cousin. The thought of getting
"out of"
instead of "out to" is used as a valve -- to let off
steam that comes with
the pressure of being part of a team, part of the competition,
part of the
male culture...part of something much bigger clearly than the
game at hand.
Where is all this pressure coming
from, I have often wondered. Sitting on the
sidelines, it becomes clear enough, as the parallels to the business
and work
worlds can be striking. While watching the game I'll hear phrases
like "Hold
it together!" when the team in the field is falling apart
from a series of
careless errors, and "Way to stay alive!" when a batter
hits a foul ball and
there's 2 strikes already. It's not hard to make the parallel
that "staying
alive" and "holding it together" are what it takes
to make it in the world at
large. Nor is it hard to imagine that the elation of catching
a high fly ball
or stealing home when least expected will serve a child well
as s/he grows
into adulthood, reaching for a professional goal or taking a
huge
entrepreneurial risk.
As if an echo to his cyclical
wishes for a career change, sometimes I'll hear
my husband say, "That's it. I'm going to quit coaching.
I have no time for
this." And occasionally I'll hear my son say, "I HATE
baseball. I don't EVER
want to play again!" But year after year, season after season,
they're still
at it. They *don't* quit -- even when there's a clear opening
to do so. I
wonder whether to them it would be like quitting being a father,
or being a
son -- or for my husband, quitting the work world altogether.
Instead the two
embrace the beginning of each season with renewed gusto and determination,
and end each season with a sense of victory -- no matter what
the team's Wins
or Losses are. Yes, there's something bigger going on here, something
I can't
quite grasp in my sideline role. But it's something about commitment
and
follow-through, responsibility and reaching for one's goals.
And I am very
grateful for It, for whatever It is, because It brings to the
entire family
an aura of fun, excitement and a strengthening of our collective
spirit.
This Father's Day is the last
game of the season, perhaps the last game of
"Triple A" for both of them. But regardless of what
next year brings --
whether they both go "out to" or "out of"
The League -- there is one thing my
husband and son can count on. They'll stick together, one way
or another. For
the bond they have formed playing game after game after game
(instead of
eating peanuts and crackerjacks!) is far-reaching -- it's generational,
beyond a lifetime. And something neither one will ever really
want to get
"out of."
=====
Lisa Roberts is the mother of four, Web Producer of The Entrepreneurial
Parent 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
__________________________________________
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 Debbie Kane, a Financial
Consultant, shares her marketing tips
with us. Debbie is an EP to 2 children, ages 5 and 1. Her contact
info is:
Debbie Kane
Financial Consultant (Series 7, 63, 65 licensed)
National Securities Corp.
P.O. Box 2806
Orleans, MA 02645
Email: [email protected]
Ph: 508-432-8915
Fax: 508-240-2309
1. In a 2-3 sentence statement,
explain what your home business is about,
including your target market and "mission statement."
I am a Financial Consultant;
I help people invest their money in stocks,
bonds, and mutual funds. I work out of my home, which is a "satellite
office"
of National Securities Corp. My target market are clients in
their 30-50's
who are saving for goals such as college funding, a new home,
and retirement.
My current client base ranges from 24 to 86 years old. My "mission
statement" is to help clients to reach their financial goals
and to establish
a relationship with them which will span generations to come.
My goal is to
be there for them during life's changes: marriage, divorce, children,
grandchildren, etc.
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?
The "most popular service"
right now is helping clients establish and
maintain a fundamentally strong portfolio that will perform well
during the
ups and downs of the stock market. My fee is from commissions
and/or a flat
management fee based on the value of the account. My commission
chart is
provided to me by the home office of National Securities Corp.
3. What are *your* favorite products
and/or services? Why do you like to
sell them?
My favorite products and/or services
would have to be the mutual funds. I
like to have clients invest in them because they give the investor
the
opportunity to send in a small amount each month to invest. This
disciplined
investing technique will help the investor to "pay themselves
first" and save
for their future. This is an excellent way to save for a college
education; I
have started this program for both my sons. Also, the mutual
fund companies I
work with have an excellent team of money management professionals
who have
been in the business for many years.
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)?
My marketing campaign involves
direct mailers and client referrals. The
marketing technique that has yielded the greatest results is
the direct
mailer. It takes a lot of time, but I hand-address the envelopes
and send
specific information to each client/prospect. My first sales/contacts
are
ususally via the telephone, then I follow up with a person-to-person
meeting
if requested.
5. Any additional comments are
welcome.
If at all possible, you should
"pay yourself first" and start a disciplined
investment program. Invest in a mutual fund with a good long-term
track
record. Investing is relatively simple, it's just not easy to
stay focused on
the long-term especially during market fluctuations. You can
almost always
become a great investor by watching history and being patient,
instead of
panicking when watching the daily stock market reports!
__________________________________________
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT EP
Site Revamp Update
We are so close. ;-) Only a couple
weeks longer and www.en-parent.com will be
vastly easier to navigate, join as a member and use as a resource
and
networking tool. We'll be making a special announcement soon
-- either in the
next issue of EPnews or as an "EPnews Flash" shortly
after. So stay tuned.
Thanks!
EP in the News!
---> Check out the "Small
Business Bookmarks" in the July/Aug issue of
"MyBusiness," the print magazine of the National Federation
of Independent
Businesses, which has 600,000 readers, when Lisa's favorite bookmarks
will be
profiled.
---> Lisa will also be interviewed
this Friday by Your Business Today, a
radio show hosted by James Rasmussen of the Minnesota News Network
(MNN),
discussing how to balance work and family and how working at
home is healthy
for the kids.
EP of the Month
FYI, we've decided to give Laura
Holgate of "The ORDER of Things" one more
month's promotion because of our Mother's Day & Father's
Day features, which
forced her photo to slip down our home page. So stay tuned for
a new "EP of
the Month" in July...coming soon enough!
EP Gift Basket Contest
Uggh!! We are having some difficulty
collecting some of the prizes that were
donated that our last Gift Basket Contest winner selected. So
until we've
developed a new sponsorship system, we will not be selecting
any more
winners. Not to worry -- for those of you who have entered the
latest "EP
Contest" -- your submissions are "safe" and will
be included in the pool of
entries when we do get this contest back on track, hopefully
some time over
the summer. In the meantime, thanks for your patience.
____________________________
NEW BOOK REVIEWS OF
"HOW TO RAISE A FAMILY & A CAREER UNDER ONE ROOF:
A PARENT'S GUIDE TO HOME BUSINESS"
(Bookhaven Press, 1997, $15.95)
Review by Wendy Brown of AmericanReviews.com,
and long-term EPnews Subscriber; June 2000
"I just finished reading
"How to Raise a Family & a Career Under One Roof."
It's the first business/self-help book that I've ever finished,
and I attribute that to Lisa's fresh and entertaining writing
style. It could also be that her experiences so closely matched
mine that at times I felt like she was describing MY house, my
life, my family.
Regardless of the reason, this
book has given me the motivation to start my business all over
again. In January of this year, I changed my business name from
Wendy Brown Typing Service to Your Office Annex. Along with my
name change, I've redesigned my business look (a new logo), joined
three professional organizations and applied for and received
my Notary Public commission.
While more of my changes have
been long in coming (like my business name change), Lisa's book
provided the motivation I needed to get it all done. I've been
in "business" for two and a half years, but until I
started reading this book, I hadn't a clue of what I was doing.
I had my one client, I looked sporadically for others, but because
I wasn't sure of how to go about being a business owner, I just
allowed myself to not be one, and to be satisfied with my part-time
labors while bemoaning the fact that I had so few clients.
Anyway, reading "How to
Raise..." has been a wonderful learning experience for me,
and now I'm more reaady for what lies ahead...at least, I'm more
willing to stick my neck out there!
One final comment: I loved the
last diary entry of Lisa's book. I know what it feels like to
have that emptiness, that feeling of disconnectedness from family.
Her book has helped to reinforce my decision to stay home, and
my will to work harder to ensure that I am a success at my home
business."
Wendy Brown
Your Office Annex, www.studentpoetry.com/office.htm
=======
Review by Vicki Collins of BabyLounge.com;
April, 2000; Rating: 5 Pacifiers! ;-)
"If you're a parent that
would like to work from home, or if you are already an entrepreneurial
parent, this book is a must read. Raising a family and a career
under the same roof need no longer be just a fantasy. With the
help of author Lisa Roberts' expertise, you will learn how to
balance your life, and to achieve and maintain harmony in your
home.
This book tells how to go about
starting your business from home, and details essential steps
that you must perform in order to succeed. "How to Raise
a Family..." covers everything from business requirements,
such as tax forms, insurance, and licensing, to the basics, like
finding time in your day to accomplish everything.
Most importantly, this book will
help you learn how to prioritize, delegate, and keep both your
clients and your family happy. Lisa Roberts does a great job
covering the professional and personal details you will have
to juggle when you work from home. No stone remains unturned.
After reading this book, you
will feel confident that your job and your family can fit under
one roof. With the right amount of labor and love, your dream
can become a reality!"
Interested in your own copy of
"How to Raise a Family & a Career Under One Roof?"
To order, just go to:
http://en-parent.com/order.htm
OR
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0943641179/theentrepreneuri
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Thanks for reading :-) Remember to visit us online:
http://www.en-parent.com
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_____________________________
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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