Check Out All the Fantastic Entries for our Startup Princess Video Marketing Competition!

Here’s 10 fantastic entries for the Startup Princess Video Marketing Competition as part of Touchpoint. Enjoy watching them and getting inspired by all of the creativity (click on the green play button on top left of the Snazl player) !  Thank you to everyone who competed and put themselves out there!  I can truly appreciate the level of time, effort and courage this takes, way to go!  The 5 Finalists will be announced soon.

Finding Childlike Joy in Business

I learn so much watching my twins explore life. I got to thinking today as I watched Maddie pouring water down her arm over and over again today while playing in the pool, and how she marveled each time as it poured down under her arm like it was the very first time. I started to question where that feeling of discovery and wonder goes as we get older. Read more

How to Succeed in Giving Away Product at Promotional Events to Bloggers or Celebrities

In the last few months I’ve been to a few outstanding private blogger events.  Usually I’m on the marketing side where I’m trying to figure out how to capture the attention of women business owners but this time I was being marketed to so I was able to think about how I responded to the various marketing messages and analyze what worked for me and what didn’t. This was a great experience because now when I do my own giveaways for my business, I hope I will be able to think about these lessons. I’d love to hear your input as well…

Here’s what works (for me) with giveaways at events:

• Try before you buy rocks. We all love this… that’s why dressing rooms and return policies are awesome… but this is especially true with beauty products. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to try a certain skin care line or make up product and if there was a sample product at the spa, salon, department store (or in the swag bag) then I was suddenly giddy with delight because I could experience it before making a commitment. M2 Skincare was a new product I received to try and while I’m a bit of a skincare snob, their marketing message and packaging appealed to me and I wanted to try their product and see what all the fuss was about. Now after 2 weeks I find myself reaching for their product over my French skincare line that I’ve used for years.

• Beautiful packaging sells, every single time. I love how when something is artfully wrapped and presented it makes the recipient feel special.  Ribbon, tissue, stickers, silk flowers, all good! Especially if you’re targeting women, we eat this stuff up… the prettier the better. BTW, I don’t care if it’s a freebie Harmon’s “go green” grocery reuseable bag, embellish it with pretty ribbons and it’s suddenly not the same bag I can get at the store (thx April Atwater from Sweet Life in the Valley).  Especially if your product is being given with multiple other products it’s important to give it with style.

• Tell me why and how to use the product. It might seem simple to you, but I want to know what to do with your product, why you think it’s unique and what press you’ve received about it.  Celebrity Make up Artist Starley Murray recently gave away some beautiful cosmetics at our Startup Princess Academy and included a color copy of an editorial that explained a lipstick application tip and so it first validated that she’d been in a major fashion magazine and second told me something new of how I can use her expertise and lipstick in a new way.  I kept the editorial copy in my make up drawer as a reminder and also continued to think of Starley when I used her make up.  Another example was doTerra essential oils, they provided a lovely introductory sample kit and marketing materials that told exactly what to do with the oils to have the maximum benefit, plus a personal letter from the sponsor

• Please Share your Contact Information. I can’t emphasize this enough, but if I love your product I want to write about it  and I don’t want to have to contact the organizer of the event to reach you if I have questions, comments, or want to get photos, etc.  It’s clear that if you’re giving away product you want to reach out, so please don’t be private about contact info.  I want to know who to talk to, who to link to, etc.  I loved that the ShirleyJ specialty foods company added a “contact us” card with their product and details for connecting via email, blog, twitter, facebook, flickr and website.

• Give Something Unexpected, (not necessarily expensive). I was pleasantly surprised when I received a package from Overstock.com with a pretty strand of freshwater pearls inside. It reminded me that Overstock IS a great source for jewelry and it was nice to get a gift certificate for free shipping for my next order as well.  At another event I was grateful to try The Chocolate treats and be given permission to try a sliver of every single variety cake (if I wanted to), I felt like a little girl, so fun and of course, delicious.  I also loved that she had pre-wrapped cookies for us to take home to share with a loved one.

• Create Opportunities to Connect or Reach Out to the Readers of My Community Here’s another added touch that shows when the company understands bloggers- offer to do a giveaway of a similar (or even more cool product) for their readers.  Cherish Bound and Timpanogos Storytelling Festival recently did this approach, they identified a handful of bloggers whose demographic matched theirs and offered to do an additonal giveaway with them (check it out @ Petit Elefant)

What has been your experience with receiving swag or product and what makes a successful campaign?  Also on the other end, what makes the return of gifting product worthwhile to your company?

Meet Mary Havlicek of Hours by Design and Startup Princess Blog Manager

It has been a pleasure to have Mary Havlicek for the past six months as our Startup Princess Blog Manager and Virtual Assistant.  Mary started her virtual assistant business in 2009 and it’s been a joy to see her develop her company and participate in that growth.  Mary is organized

and keeps StartupPrincess.com running on a day to day basis, keeps up with research and manages multiple projects. Working with Mary has been ideal for us because we weren’t ready to hire someone part-time or full-time, with Mary we specified what kind of time commitment we needed and she has been dependable and helpful to keep things moving forward. If you’ve been thinking about hiring a virtual assistant, enjoy reading Mary’s interview and consider contacting her for more details.

Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Current Residence: Altoona, Iowa

Education: BA in Psychology from Mount Mercy College

Professional Background: I spent over a decade in various Administrative Assistant positions starting back in college. I realized that, although I really like to help people and help businesses become successful, I was tired of just pushing paper… especially the same paper every day. Discovering that I could be a Virtual Assistant has allowed me to have a creative outlet that I didn’t have in my jobs and the ability to help businesses and clients that I really enjoy working with – the variety is one thing that keeps me going.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: A meteorologist, rock star, librarian, teacher, and mom.

What you are: A Virtual Assistant, wife and mom.

Brief Summary of your Start Up: After the birth of my daughter and a decade in the corporate world, I was looking for a way to stay home to raise her but still gain some income. I found the Virtual Assistant industry, said to myself “I could totally do this,” and the rest is history.

Company Website? www.hoursbydesign.com

What inspired you? Well, my daughter was my first inspiration for starting my business. But as I went along, I would talk to moms who wanted to be home with their kids, too, but did not know of a good way to do it or did not have the faith in themselves they needed to do it. I decided that through my business, while I wanted to help those moms who wanted to be home, I could help those who already were – those who had businesses and were not only going home (meaning, leaving the corporate world for their own endeavors), but were also going big. My goal is to help women and mom entrepreneurs grow their businesses into hugely successful ventures while having time for the reasons they started their businesses in the first place – their families.

How long have you been in business? A little over a year part-time, ramped up to full-time the past few months.

How did you fund it? All by myself (now the song’s stuck in my head)

Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? There really isn’t one that I can pick out of a huge crowd of people that have helped me along the way, either directly or indirectly. The Fairy Godmothers here at Startup Princess.com have such great insight and always bring a wealth of information to their posts. There are also some fellow VAs that have helped me along with other entrepreneurs, especially mompreneurs. My husband has also been a huge wealth of support and help for me… he can sometimes see things in ways that I’m not able to, and another perspective can be a huge help. I believe you can learn something from every person you meet.

Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? Startup Princess, of course. Also the Virtual Assistant Forums and I’m on Twitter, too.

Current Business Challenge? Continuing to build and reach out to more people and clients.

What are you doing about it? Just getting out there and doing it. Pushing past the “I can’t talk about myself like that!” insecurities and realizing the confidence to let people know how I can help them. Realizing that the business owners I look up to have fears just like me, and if they can push past them and go big, so can I.

Favorite motivational quote: Right now, I keep telling myself “go big or go home” and “just do it.” With all of the goals I want to accomplish, these help keep me going and remind me that in order to achieve what I want, I have to keep going big.

Family? Yup, married to my husband for five years with a two-year-old daughter and a son due to arrive at the end of the year. We also have two dogs, two cats and a menagerie of fish in two tanks. We’re a family of twos!

If so, how do you balance family and business? Balance? Is there really such a thing? I loved Tara McCausland’s post here because it hit home for me that balance is different for each person… there’s no right or wrong way for moms and entrepreneurs to find it. For me, it’s just doing what is right for me, for my family and for my business. I just recently got a new planner like the ones I had in college – it helps me to write things out that need to be done. I list the major tasks that need done every day, including what I need to work on for my own business. I also keep track of family appointments in there. It helps me to see everything to plan it all out and know when I need to sit down and focus on business “stuff” and when I can spend time with my family.

Favorite book? I really don’t have one – I have a voracious appetite for books and am constantly reading something. I also like all different types of books – business, mysteries, comedies, classics, Harry Potter… I really don’t limit myself because I don’t want to miss anything good. Two books that I’ve loved ever since school, though, are To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of Anne Frank. I still pick them up and re-read them at least once a year.

What do you do to relax? When I do get a few moments to myself, it’s to read or cook something – my kitchen is one of my “Zen places” where I can lose myself for a long time. I also love spending time with my husband and daughter because we always end up having a lot of fun and laughs together. Now, some of my time will also be spent putting together a boy’s room, which means painting (which I love!) and getting all that fun baby stuff together.

What do you want to change most about your world? I wish that more people had access to supportive communities like Startup Princess. Moms know that there is always a sort of competition between each other as to the “right way” to raise our kids, and there’s always some sort of “advice” being thrown at us. To me, it shouldn’t be that way. Instead, I’d like to see us ALL build each other up and support each other, helping each other whenever we see a way that we can. I think if that happened, we would see a lot more people realizing their great potential because they would have people backing them up rather than tearing them down. I think it’s also a great lesson on life – that part of our purpose is to help each other. We’re all headed down a path; we may as well help each other along the way in whatever way we can.

What are you most proud of? 3 things: 1) My husband. I love that I’m married to one of my best friends who has unconditional love and support for me – I’m one of those people who can say, “I don’t know where I’d be without him.” He’s also an amazing entrepreneur himself who has started up one successful business and is pursuing other soon-to-be successful endeavors right alongside. 2) My daughter (and I know I’ll be able to say my son in the future). She is so full of life and has such a personality. This kid can keep me in stitches with the things she comes up with and does. She’s extremely smart and such a love, and I’m so proud that she is growing into such a beautiful person. 3) Myself. If you had told me even 2-3 years ago that I would have started my own business and abandoned the corporate world (with delight!), I would have told you you were crazy. But as I’ve done this, I’ve recognized the entrepreneurial spirit I’ve always had, and that if I really do put my mind to something, I can do anything! I’m proud that I’m building something my children can look at and say “look what Mom did – if she can do it, so can I!”

What advice would you like to offer other Startup Princesses? Those goals and dreams you have? Go for them. Even if those goals and dreams seem so unbelievably huge that you think you could never accomplish them, you can. Do not give up. Yes, it’s going to get hard, it’s going to get frustrating and you are going to want to quit. Trust me, it’s not the answer. It’s the times like those when you learn the most. Not just about business or what it is you’re doing, but about yourself, and that’s going to help you be even more wildly successful. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel – keep moving forward and that light will get bigger and brighter.

Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? Twitter is a wonderful thing – you can meet people, ask for help and opinions and have fun on there with really cool tweeps.

If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? The birthstones of everyone in my family – pearl, diamond, amethyst and (we think) blue topaz.

Thank you, Mary for all you do here at Startup Princess and for inspiring us with your startup story.

Save the Date! Startup Princess Image & Media Academy, Sundance November 12-14

Call us crazy. At the moment we’re planning, not just one big event, but TWO. Why? because we’re excited to bring women together for the first-ever Startup Princess Image & Media Academy, a 3 day retreat in beautiful Sundance, Utah!

The date of the retreat will be November 12-14th and will feature four of the world’s leading experts in the industry: Summer Bellessa Editor of Eliza Magazine and International Model, Cherie Burton Image Consultant, Danielle LaPorte, Business Strategist and Lead Author of Style Statement, and Starley Murray, Celebrity Make up Artist and TV Spokeswoman.

The retreat will feature media training, marketing strategy, fashion, make up and hair classes, headshots with a celebrity photographer Russ Dixon, and more. Stay with us at the 8700 sq ft Sundance cabin! It’ll be dreamy, fun, inspirational, and action-packed. Don’t miss it… save the date and plan to join us.

More details to come!

Intuitive Eating in 3 Steps

If you have ever been on a diet before (and really, who hasn’t?) these steps are going to sound silly and counter-intuitive to you. You are going to have to go out on a limb and just do some trusting Read more

Enjoy Getting to Know Carla Meine, of VAST Equity Fund for Women Business Owners

The video below features Carla Meine speaking on behalf of VAST equity fund. VAST is an equity fund owned and managed by women for women. Carla will be a featured speaker at Startup Princess’ annual conference, Touchpoint, September 11th, in SLC, Utah.

Carla Meine is the owner of VAST Equity, a PE firm dedicated to raising money to invest in women-owned or women-run businesses at the growth stage.

Have You Wondered About Someone’s Dreams?

Our dreams and desires define us. Be they broken, scarcely remembered, on the verge of reality, or in full bloom. They pilot our choices. Dreams have the power to shape Read more

Connect, Learn, and Share at The Startup Princess Annual Conference, “Touchpoint” Sept 11th, Salt Lake City, Utah

The countdown begins!  We’re getting excited to connect with you and all the other creative Startup Princesses from all over the country joining us this year for our 3rd Annual Startup Princess national conference, Touchpoint.  So far we have attendees coming from Canada, Arizona, California, Vegas, and Washington- hurray! Can’t wait. There’s still time to register and join us… please come.  We’d love to meet you and help you take your business to the next level.  Here’s what you can expect from our conference:

Read more

Overcome Social Media Overwhelm

As I’ve gone through the Schedule Makeover™ process and guided others on the journey to work-life brilliance™, I’ve found that social media overwhelm is rampant. Every day some must-have application pops up or some get-rich method comes out. To combat this time assault, I’ve developed this three-part method:

Ask Yourself, Why?

Before you engage in any business activity, always ask yourself questions such as:

• Why am I doing this activity?

• Why am I spending this much (or this little) time on it?

• Why would someone care about what I’m doing?

• Who reads this information?

• Will this win me new clients or preserve my current ones?

• How does this activity reflect on my brand?

• Does this activity energize me and focus me on my important goals?

These kind of questions work with anything from networking events to Twitter updates—basically if you can’t see a clear ROI on an activity, you might want to stop or reduce your time doing it. If you simply enjoy doing something, you can still do it on your personal time. But don’t waste time on “business development” that produces no results.

For instance, when I worked exclusively as a freelance writer before becoming a time coach and trainer, I did not write a blog. I made this decision based on the fact that my business-to-business clients were not interested in hiring me based on blogging. Instead, my clients cared more about seeing me face-to-face on a somewhat regular basis. At that time, it made more sense to spend a couple of hours a week visiting their offices rather than writing posts.

Stick with a Theme

Just like the most successful novelists develop a reputation for a certain style and subject matter, you need to establish an online reputation that’s aligned with your brand. If your main “Why” for engaging in social media is to build your business, you must pick a theme and stick with it.

When I decided to do time coaching and training for work/life brilliance™, I began a blog to establish my expertise and develop my well of online content. To make it a go-to resource, I chose to focus on time management for women in business.

Around the same time, I started using Twitter. At first, I would just put up tweets about random articles or thoughts. But after a little bit, I realized it would be much more effective to have a consistent tweet each day. That’s when I began a daily “E time management tip” which evolved into an “E Schedule Makeover Tip.” Now my hundreds of Twitter followers can expect a daily tip to assist them with their schedule. This builds my reputation and expert status, and by using Google Analytics, I found out that Twitter is one of the top drivers of traffic to my Web site.

Time Block Everything

The mental state required to effectively process e-mail or scan tweets is not the same as the one you need to write a cohesive article. One of the biggest ways to make writing or any project that requires a high level of mental concentration take FOOOREEEVER is to flit between the project and e-mail or social media.

I’ve found it most effective to answer all of my e-mail and do all my processing at the beginning of the day. Then I can take a little break to get a cup of coffee or stretch my legs and focus completely for a couple of hours on a major assignment such as an article. Once that’s done, I take a little break, maybe check e-mail for 10 minutes, and then focus on the next important task.

To stick to your schedule and overcome distraction, try these techniques:

• If you’re a twitterer, decide when you will go on Twitter and for how long, then stop once you reach your limit.

• If you’re a blogger, designate a certain day and a certain time slot or at least number of hours you will spend blogging, then stick with it.

• If you like to read lots of content, collect it all in a single electronic or paper folder and then designate a certain amount of time each week to review it. Stop when you reach the limit.

Read Less, Do More

With the onslaught of social media, the lie is that you will always benefit from more information, but that’s simply not true. By picking the best information, learning from it, and applying it, you will be far ahead of the people who fritter away their lives reading yet another article about Facebook, yet doing nothing.

It will take time to develop the habit of focus when you’re used to falling for the lure of mindless social media. But as you decide on what’s most important, focus on a theme, and set time limits, you’ll start to develop new habits and the ability to maximize the value of your time on and off social media.

Other Good Social Media Time Management Resources:

Time Management in the Age of Social Media by David Allen: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090310_589525.htm

A Company that Sets Up Your Facebook and LinkedIn Profiles: http://springwise.com/life_hacks/jumpstart/

If you want to end your feelings of overwhelm and guilt and step into the future with confidence, check out www.ScheduleMakeover.com or contact me at esaunders@RealLifeE.com. I can develop an ideal schedule for you that includes specific time blocks for strategic social media activities.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach and trainer who empowers women in business to achieve work/life brilliance™ through her exclusive Schedule Makeover™ process. Inc magazine, NBC, and The Chicago Tribune are just a few of the places where Elizabeth has appeared.

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