Six Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

Guest Author Peri H. Pakroo J.D., writes:

More women than ever before are grabbing the reins and starting their own businesses. The number of women-owned small businesses is growing approximately twice as quickly as the national average for all start-ups.

For entrepreneurs of all stripes — women and men included — the pre-start-up phase is typically characterized by a flood of questions about what exactly it takes to make it in business. Are there different answers to these questions for men versus women? Not really. Every business needs to be based on a solid idea, aimed at a profitable market or niche, have solid systems in place, and market itself effectively. And of course, the legal and bureaucratic rules facing women entrepreneurs are exactly the same as those facing men.

But as many women business owners will tell you, the road to success for women often involves its own unique set of curves. Surveys of women business owners show that women’s business concerns tend to skew towards issues such as finding work-life balance, start-up (or expansion) financing, and marketing. The following tips address some of the issues and concerns that are most commonly faced by women entrepreneurs.

1. Start a business that works for you and fits with your personal life. There are no rules as to what a “real” business looks like. For some businesspeople, success might mean an international operation with hundreds of employees and annual revenues in the tens of millions. For others, a small consulting firm or artisan business that pays a healthy salary and allows generous personal freedom might be considered the pinnacle of success. The key is to take the time early in the planning process to consider this question and decide for yourself what your ideal vision is for your business and your personal life.

2. Don’t sweat the bureaucracy. A lot of would-be entrepreneurs, women and men alike, find themselves stuck on the verge of taking the leap into starting a business, but confused about how to tackle the legal rules of getting started. This hang-up is always grounded more in fear than reality; the truth is that clearing the bureaucratic hurdles isn’t usually big deal.

You can usually start a sole proprietorship (the legal term for a one-owner business) or a partnership (a business with more than one owner) by registering with just one government office. And for business owners who want protection from personal liability for business debts — often referred to by the legal jargon “limited liability” — the simplest corporations or limited liability companies (LLCs) require only a couple more registration tasks to complete.

Of course, there’s a lot more to launching a successful small business than dealing with bureaucratic requirements. For starters, you’ll need to have a sound business idea, and you’ll need to be able to develop good management skills to guide it to success. This is where you should put your mental energy and good ideas; don’t waste precious brain cells worrying about the legal hurdles.

3. For businesses with moderate to significant overhead, it is crucial to start the business with adequate funds. Starting a business without enough money to ride out the early lean days (described as “undercapitalization”) is the most common reason that businesses fail. Undercapitalization is less of an issue with small service-based businesses that don’t have many fixed expenses. But businesses with overhead such as rent, salaries for employees, utility bills, inventory, equipment, insurance, or other fixed costs absolutely need to plan carefully and pull together enough funding to support the fledgling business as it works up to speed.

Also, though it’s important to start your business with enough capital, that doesn’t mean that every business needs piles and piles of money to get off the ground. Plenty of mega-successful businesses were started on a shoestring: Apple Computer started in a garage; Hewlett-Packard started in the dining room of the Packard home; the list goes on and on. Generally speaking, a business that can find creative, thrifty ways to provide its product or service — especially in its early days — will typically find more success than a business that adopts a “spend more money” approach.

4. If you need start-up or expansion financing, consider sources other than traditional banks. One of the concerns most commonly cited by women entrepreneurs is difficulty finding start-up financing. And it’s little wonder: traditional banks typically don’t lend money to new ventures that don’t have a track record of success or creditworthiness. Instead of focusing on conventional big-chain banks, start-ups should instead look for local community banks, credit unions, and other local financial institutions that have a vested interest in the health of the local economy. Often, their application processes and criteria are softer than the big banks.

Two resources that women should definitely look into are Women’s Business Centers and community development financial institutions. Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) exist nationwide and focus on supporting women entrepreneurs through business training and counseling, and access to credit and capital, among other services. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which are certified by the U.S. Treasury, are a fast-growing segment of the business financing market specializing in loans to underserved communities and populations. CDFIs usually — but not always — have a specific focus such as improving economic opportunities in blighted communities or supporting women- or minority-owned entrepreneurs. Both WBCs and CDFIs can be especially helpful for start-ups, businesses with poor credit, and businesses seeking relatively small loans, generally up to $100,000. Even better, they often offer guidance and expertise to your business in addition to financing, which will help your chances of success.

As an example, the fabulous nonprofit where I teach entrepreneurship classes — WESST in Albuquerque — is both a WBC and a CDFI. It offers a wide range of high-quality classes on business planning, financial management, and marketing, plus offers loans and one-on-one counseling. With an organization like WESST on its side, a business gets a major boost in its chances of success.

5. Network like a social butterfly — it is one of the best ways to market your business and create profitable opportunities. Networking involves actively cultivating relationships with people, businesses, community leaders, and others who present possible opportunities for your business — not just as potential customers, but also as vendors, partners, investors, or other roles. Remember, networking is not the same thing as sales! Rather than the simple goal of making a sale, a huge goal of networking is to inform other businesspeople and influential people about what you do in hopes that they will recommend your business to their circle of contacts.

I look at networking more as a self-employed lifestyle than a specific activity. You are “networking” every time you attend an event held by a local trade association, get to know other business owners and community leaders, send an email introducing two of your contacts to each other, write a letter to the editor, participate in an online discussion group, or have lunch with another local business owner.

6. Forge relationships with contacts before you need help from them. For example, if you need the support of a local politician on an upcoming city zoning decision, you’ll have a better chance of getting the politician’s vote if he or she already knows you and thinks favorably of your business than if you place a call to his or her office out of the blue.

Peri Pakroo is a business and communications consultant, specializing in legal and start-up issues for businesses and nonprofits. She has started, participated in, and consulted with start-up businesses for 20 years. She is the author of The Women’s Small Business Start-Up Kit (Nolo) and top-selling business books. Her blog is at www.peripakroo.com. For more information, please visit www.nolo.com and follow the author on Twitter and Facebook.

Go to http://bit.ly/Nolo_WomensSmallBusinessStartUpKit to access an e-galley of The Women’s Small Business Start-Up Kit on NetGalley. It can be read on the Nook, Kindle, Sony e-reader, or on your computer.

Introducing Shelli Ashton, Founder and Owner of Infinite Jewelry Co.® OFFICIAL Licensed Jewelry for TWILIGHT

We are pleased to introduce Shelli Ashton of Infinite Jewelry Co.® Shelli has taken her passion for the Twilight series and with the help of Stephenie Meyer, designed jewelry that the author envisioned for her books. Now that Eclipse just released readers and movie goers will flock even more to Shelli’s website to get their own “Bella” jewelry, lucky her! Scroll below to view Bella’s Engagement Ring ® and Bella’s Bracelet ™ and to read how Shelli started her enchanting business. We hope you enjoy!

Hometown: Provo, UT

Current Residence: St. George, UT

Education: 1yr. @ UVSC, Murdock Travel School

Professional Background: Tropical Sno, Limited Express, BYU Graphics Department – Asst. Secretary, Sherson Lehman Brothers – Asst. Secretary, NuSkin – Order Department, Murdock Travel – Travel Agent, Preferred Choice Cruise and Travel – Owner, Travel Agent, Infinite Jewelry Co. – President

What you wanted to be when you grew up: A Mom, a Secretary, a Stock Broker or a Designer.

What you are: A Wife, Mom, President, Room Mom, Young Women’s leader, a kid at heart.

Brief Summary of your Start Up: In 2007, I was obsessed with the Twilight Series.  I read and reread the books five times in a five week period.  I was making timelines, notes about the characters and cross-referencing my favorite passages.

Our family has always loved jewelry!  On a trip to visit my family, my mom and my sister both gave me jewelry pieces that, unbeknownst to them, tied into the Twilight books.  I was ecstatic to say the least, and the three and a half hour ride home to St. George was filled of thoughts about how much I loved my new jewelry.  It was something tangible that tied me to the characters that I loved so much.  Then I got an idea that if I loved my jewelry so much, others would want to have jewelry that represented their Twilight obsession as well.

I didn’t want it to be my version of the jewelry though, so we got in contact with Stephenie Meyer and with her help designed the jewelry that she envisioned in the Twilight series.

Today, we have sold thousands of Bella’s Bracelet ™ and Bella’s Engagement Ring ® around the world to happy Twilight fans.

Company Website? www.infinitejewelryco.com

What inspired you? The Twilight Saga, Stephenie Meyer.

How long have you been in business? Three years.

How did you fund it? With our personal funds.

Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? I have many Fairy Godmothers.

Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? No.

Current Business Challenge? I am currently trying to clone myself so I can get everything done.

What are you doing about it? Learning how to delegate.

Favorite motivational quote: I have several…I love quotes!

Proverbs 3:5-6

“The Crème will rise to the top”

“You’re focusing on the problem.  If you focus on the problem, you can’t see the solution.  NEVER focus on the problem!”

“It just got too hard…The hard is what makes it great.  If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.”

Family? Yes, we have a 13 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter

If so, how do you balance family and business? I work when they are at school and try to include them in my work when I can.  I stop whatever I am doing when they come into my home office and look at them when they talk to me.

Favorite book? There are so many…

Favorite leisure books: Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyers (of course), Austenland by Shannon Hale, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Favorite Business books: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, The E Myth Revisited  by Michael Gerber, The Portable Coach by Thomas Leonard, Secrets of the World Class by Steve Siebold

What do you do to relax? Read, watch movies, go to lunch with my friends, go on a drive by myself and sing really loud.

What do you want to change most about your world? Having more time to do things that matter most.

What are you most proud of? Serving an LDS mission to The Canary Islands, marrying the most amazing man, our two great kids, my family, the races & marathons I’ve run, turning my obsession for Twilight into a fun business and being the only authorized manufactures of Bella’s Bracelet ™ and Bella’s Engagement Ring ®.

What advice would you like to offer other Start Up Princesses? Whatever it is that you want to do…you can do it!

Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? My computer, my Blackberry & my Mom.

If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? Diamonds, of course!  Among all of the diamonds, I would have one stone in the shape of a star for our daughter, one stone in the shape of a moon for our son, and a large stone that would be in the shape of the sun, for my husband.

Life Balance: It’s All in Your Head

Fairy Godmother, Tara McCausland writes:

My husband is a physical therapist that specializes in helping people with balance disorders. He explains that in order to have complete physical balance, three systems must be working together: the sensation of your feet, your inner ear and your eyes. The brain then combines the input from these three systems which allows people to walk, run and even do incredible things like perform Swan Lake on point. Normal balance is only possible when these three systems are processed effectively in your brain. In a very literal sense, our physical balance is in our head.

Likewise life balance, or a state of wellbeing and wholeness, is also in your head. You could be the world’s greatest prioritizer, planner, and executer and have all the wealth and opportunity in the world.  Yet without a positive and proactive mental attitude, you will never experience the joy and wholeness you are seeking.

Too many of us are plagued by worry and anxiety; we spend exorbitant amounts of energy fretting over mistakes of the past, fearing the unknowns of the future and ultimately creating our own veritable hell.  As the great French philosopher Montaigne said, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.” When we allow ourselves to fall prey to the disease of worry and negative thinking, every blessing and personal triumph loses its savor. In order to feel truly whole and joyful, we must overcome our natural inclination to complain and worry and replace it with an active can-do spirit and gratitude for the gifts of today. When we are confronted with challenges, we must do all that lies within our power to solve the problem and then surrender the rest – herein lies the key to a peaceful, fulfilled life.

My mother taught me that you CAN live happily ever after…one day at a time. I am learning this as I juggle the responsibilities of wife, mom, entrepreneur, success coach, etc. It would be easy for me to go to a dark place if I allowed myself to stress about my load of responsibility and to fear the “what ifs” of the future. I could literally make myself ill stewing over all the scary possibilities. However, I know that if I choose to have realistic optimism and proactive determination, these will serve me more than any amount of whining. In fact, you and I just might discover that with a little faith, we’ll be able to find joy in the journey – even the rocky parts.

If you are truly seeking to live with life balance, I challenge you to start in your head and examine your thoughts. What do they sound like? Are they positive, empowering, and proactive or do they reek of negativity, fear, and cynicism. In this assessment, be honest with yourself and don’t be discouraged with what you discover. Contrary to popular belief, you can learn how to control your thoughts. Your brain can be re-trained to think positively. This takes a conscious, consistent effort – it’s real work – but in time you can rewire your mental “hard drive.” It is at this point that life will take on a more vivid beauty, doors of opportunity will open to you at every turn, and life balance will be yours.

Here’s to your success!

Tara McCausland, My Joy Quest, Tara McCausland is a speaker, aspiring author, and the owner of her own success/life coaching business – Joy Quest Coaching. She’s also the happy mommy of one active toddler and has been married to her high school sweetheart for 4 years. As a coach, Tara specializes in helping mompreneurs build their businesses quickly, find more customers, and make more money – all the while helping them achieve greater balance and joy in their lives. She offers 1-on-1 coaching as well as group coaching via telephone and email. Best way to contact Tara is by email at tara@myjoyquest.com or by phone at (801)979-6244. Twitter @myjoyquest

Introducing Elisa Op’t Hof, President and Founder of Undercover Mama

We are pleased to introduce Elisa Op’t Hof, President and Founder of Undercover Mama! Elisa started her business nearly two years ago and has since provided many mothers the comfort and modesty of nursing without the worry of “something” showing. Connect with Elisa and her business partner Elena at Undercovermama.com or on twitter. Enjoy!

Hometown: Holladay, UT

Current Residence: Spanish Fork, UT

Education: Still plucking away at my Bachelor’s Degree (almost finished).

Professional Background: Full time mama who loves to read and learn. I frequent the library and devour their business section to help me on my road to entrepreneurship.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: I wanted to take care of animals. I still have a big soft spot in my heart for them.

What you are: I take care of my own little “animals” ; My five beautiful children! I love homeschooling them and I enjoy squeezing in time to run a quickly growing business too.

Brief Summary of your Start- up: Undercover Mama sells nursing undershirts that attach directly to any nursing bra. It helps breastfeeding mamas to nurse with ease keeping their bellies, backs and sides “undercover”.

Company Website: www.undercovermama.com

What inspired you: After the birth of my forth baby I was STILL trying to find a comfortable way to nurse in the clothes I already had. I wanted to go back to my regular wardrobe and not have to buy nursing clothing. When I couldn’t find a solution I liked, I created the Undercover Mama.

How long have you been in business: Undercover Mama launched in August 2008

How did you fund it: I couldn’t afford much at the time and since I had “only” been a SAHM for years I wouldn’t qualify for a big loan. I started Undercover Mama with less than $1,000 by doing what I could myself and utilizing resources in the community and also the skills of family and friends.

Did you have a Fairy Godmother (or mentor)?: Not specifically, but I leaned on many when I got stuck or just needed a boost of confidence or courage to keep going.

Do you belong to any business organization or networking groups?: I belong to MomPack and joined them right after I launched. I still find them a great resource of colleagues who are willing to help with just about any dilemma I run in to.

Current Business Challenge: Isn’t it always time? Or the lack thereof. Finding time for the business on top of an already busy family life sometimes feels like it takes Supergirl strength.

What are you doing about it: Now that I am mostly settled in my new home, (moving is tough!) I am setting aside specific hours to get the work done early, so I can enjoy the rest of the day with my kids. They are motivated to not distract me when they know we can have some fun as soon as I am finished.

Favorite Motivational Quote: “Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Oliver Goldsmith

Family: Husband and five precious children (ages 9,8,5,2,and 1). Balancing work and family takes constant revision because life is always changing. It changes with the seasons, school year, illnesses, new babies, etc. There isn’t one schedule to stick to. Being flexible is a must. I have made it a point to find the time no matter what. Sometimes that means burning the midnight oil. I have found that often my most productive hours are in the middle of the night.

Favorite Book: Too hard to name just one… I love reading the classics and especially ones I can read aloud with my family.

What do you do to relax?: Read, play games, take walks. I love to unwind with my husband at the end of the day when all the kids are in bed and the house is quiet.

What do you want to change most about your world?: The world is always trying to get us to speed up until we are going at a break-neck pace. I am always trying to slow it down. I treasure these priceless years while my kids are all small. I want to enjoy each day and have time to just be with them.

What are you most proud of?: I am not a quitter. No matter what area of life I am dealing with I always strive to improve no matter how many times I fail.

What advice would you like to offer other start up princesses?: One piece of advice is to do your research at the beginning of your business venture. Don’t hesitate to ask the questions that could save you from wasting a lot of time and money. Sometimes you may feel like you don’t even want to know the answer. It is better to do what it takes in the beginning to find out if your venture is worthwhile. Get a lot of outside input.

Favorite magic wand (tool/resource): Mompack and the Small Business Development Center or other resources to give you honest, knowledgeable guidance and encouragement.

If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? If I could design a tiara, I would use my favorite colors. I love bright green, orange and yellow! They make me feel happy.

Bookkeeping for the Rest of Us

So you made it through tax season…now what?

Every year after tax season, small business owners unanimously proclaim “next year will be better”. No more boxes of unorganized receipts, rushing to gather the necessary documents for my tax preparer, and I will not file an extension simply because I wasn’t prepared.

Fabulous – but how? Here a few tips to get you started.

1. If you don’t already have one, open a small business checking account. It is a lot easier to go through your checkbook at the end of the year and pull out business expenses if they are not co-mingled with trips to Wal-Mart for milk or gas station fill-ups on the way to drop the kids off at school. At the end of the year you will know with few exceptions that what came out of your business checking account was a legitimate business expense and what went is was income.

Several banks offer free business checking accounts. If you are doing business just under your name for now, open a separate free personal checking account at your bank – just for your business income and expenses.

2. Reconcile, Reconcile, Reconcile. You should reconcile your checking account every month. This is the best way to review your cash flow and know at the end of each month where you stand. You can use accounting software or reconcile by hand. At the end of the year you will only need to review December’s expenses because the other eleven months are already done. You can be confident that your records are clean and accurate and your tax preparer will trust the numbers you give them that much more.

3. Plan and Make it Happen. Admit to yourself that bookkeeping is a necessary evil of any business. Very few people enjoy doing it so you are not alone. Set aside one evening a month, or one afternoon a week and review that week or months business. I always do my bookkeeping on Wednesday evenings after dinner. My husband knows that it is his night to get the kids ready for bed and I can spend a few hours reviewing the check register, invoicing clients and sending thank you notes. It is now part of our routine and my business is better for it. I am more aware of where my business is financially and my CPA is grateful for the effort.

Lindsey Patrick Start this month before the receipts pile to high and you may just look forward to tax season. You are welcome to contact me at 801.362.4206 or lindseypatrick1@yahoo.com with any bookkeeping/accounting questions, I would love to help.

Is Your Life Balance Teetering?

Fairy Godmother, Vicki Winterton writes:

Invest 10 minutes a day in 3 simple techniques to restore your stability!

There was a time when the boundaries between work and home were clear. Today, however, work is likely to invade your personal life — and maintaining a work-life balance is harder than ever. Still, work-life balance isn’t out of reach for you. Murphy’s Law states: “If anything can go wrong, it will”. Sometimes, it seems like this well known saying is built in to the way our world works. I have found that time management solutions can ensure that Murphy’s “drop-by visits” don’t throw a major kink in your day.

As a Utah based productivity coach and professional organizer, I’m excited to share some of my life changing tips to help you learn how to organize your life in a way that restores peace and brings greater balance to your daily routine. In fact, I am so sure these tips work, that I GUARANTEE my clients greater peace once they agree to make these techniques a part of their lives.

1. Plan ahead by prioritizing - Use your favorite daily planner to be sure you make time each day to prioritize. Some tips for prioritizing include:

• Scheduling your time in weekly segments
• Scheduling no more than 70 % of your day (IF you are a mother of young children, 50% is the target)
• Taking 5 minutes today to prioritize tomorrow with your 4 most important tomorrow activities

2. Simplify - Life is easier when you simplify your daily routine. Look twice to see how you might shorten or delete some of the activities you are undertaking such as:

• Low priority items
• Tasks of little consequence if left undone
• Tasks where the cost (time, money, energy) are greater than the benefit received

3. Delegate tasks - If someone else (this includes your children) can complete a task as well or nearly as well as you ONCE THEY ARE TRAINED, then by all means, delegate that task to them. The keys to effective delegating include:

• Making sure your expectations are clearly understood
• Having a good return and report system in place
• Assuring you allow time for a learning curve
• Praise & appreciation for a job well done

Understand that unexpected issues arise on a regular basis. Even the most complex productivity plan can’t withstand Murphy’s Law. You CAN, however, learn how to organize your life and prepare for Murphy’s “drop in” visits. If you manage your time well by applying the tips listed and then EXPECT Murphy’s visits, you will be able to easily move beyond the frustration those visits have brought you in the past.  Click here to view and print my FREE 1 page Life Balance Worksheet. With the investment of a little time in this worksheet and only 10 minutes a week to prioritize, simplify and delegate, greater life balance is not only at your fingertips, but easily attainable…YOU CAN DO THIS!

Click here to watch Vicki’s 6 minute TV segment, Time Management Tips

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Vicki Winterton is a Utah based professional organizer/productivity coach & a Startup Princess fairy godmother who has been highlighted in newspapers, magazines and on television. She is an online organizing expert who co-hosts The Organized Woman Show. Vicki’s professional organizing business is found at www.OrganizingMindOverMatter.com

 

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You’re Invited to the Utah Angel Investor of the Year Award Luncheon- June 23

Get to know more about those who are funding companies in Utah. Angel Investors will be honored and celebrated on June 23rd at the Grand America Hotel and you’re invited to participate. Plus! Hear the keynote speaker Michael Gerber, what a wonderful event! Don’t miss out.

Here’s the details: June 23rd 11:30 am – 1:30 pm Grand America Hotel Imperial Ballroom 555 South Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Register HERE: http://www.investoroftheyear.org

Introducing Rachelle Anne Miller, Owner of Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios

We are pleased to introduce Rachelle Anne Miller, owner of Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios! Rachelle has designed and illustrated children’s books, greeting cards, craft supplies, children’s room decor, and more. To connect with the multi-talented Rachelle, visit her website at www.creativestudios.rachelleannemiller.com. Enjoy the interview!

Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Current Residence: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Education: NSCAD University, Bachelor of Design

Professional Background: After graduation from NSCAD University, I worked as a graphic designer in various agencies for about three years before deciding to leave my job and work at home as a full time illustrator.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: I wantd to be a lot of things when I was little! Art was always in the mix though. I loved art from an early age and knew whatever career I chose, it’d be a creative one.

What you are: I’m an illustrator and designer, specializing in the children’s field.

Brief Summary of your Start Up: I have always been a very motivated and independent individual so I knew that eventually, I was going to be my own boss. I left my job as a graphic designer two years ago to start my own illustration and design company, Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios. I offer a full range of design and illustration services and specialize in children’s work. I have designed and illustrated children’s books, greeting cards, craft supplies, children’s room decor, and more! I also offer prints of my artwork in my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/store/RachelleAnneMiller

Company Website? http://creativestudios.rachelleannemiller.com

What inspired you? My son is my biggest inspiration but I am also very inspired by other children and nature. I love animals and cute little things! I am also inspired by the many other creative artists out there.

How long have you been in business? I have been officially in business for just over two years.

How did you fund it? There was very little need for funding my business up front. All my work is done digitally so all I needed was my computer equipment to start (which I already owned). As I achieved more and more success, I purchased more equipment as needed, such as my Wacom Cintiq and Epson professional R1900 printer. This equipment helped move my business and art to the next level.

Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? Elizabeth Dulemba (www.dulemba.com) was immensely helpful to me in my very early days. She is an amazing children’s illustrator and is very established in the business. I was always inspired by her amazing digital paintings and read her blog all the time. I decided to contact her one day in order to get some advice on my artwork and how she got started in the industry. She was more than willing to offer lots of email support and art critiques. I have always been very thankful for her help in this critical time of establishing my new business.

Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? I am a member of ChildrensIllustrators.com and have past been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Current Business Challenge? I am currently working on expanding my Etsy store (www.etsy.com/store/RachelleAnneMiller). I opened this store late last year and this is where I’ve been selling prints of my artwork. I enjoy working for clients but even moreso, I enjoy interacting directly with customers. I hope to create many more pieces for the store and have it become a larger part of my business.

What are you doing about it? In order to achieve this goal,  I’ve been working on promoting the store through my blog and through other advertising outlets. I am also attempting to add new prints on a regular basis so the selection of artwork appeals to a larger customer base.

Favorite motivational quote: “Never settle.” – Steve Jobs

Family? I have a wonderful and supportive (and also very creative) husband who is always very encouraging of my work. I am also blessed with a super active and happy little toddler, Isaac who makes me smile every day

If so, how do you balance family and business? This question is everything right now! Having a toddler at home makes it very difficult to get any work done. I do as much as I can during his naps but get the bulk of my work done in the evenings and on the weekends. My husband is very understanding and helps take care of Isaac during these times. I also make sure to set aside some family time on the weekend. We usually go on a family outing on Saturday and I also try to keep 1 or 2 evenings free per week to spend time with my husband.

Favorite book? Would it be cheating to name a children’s book? I love children’s books and that’s about all I have time to read lately since my little one adores them! Our favorite series right now is the Duck and Goose series by Tad Hills. Ok, so they’re super simple and there isn’t much ‘reading’ involved but the images are too cute and Isaac loves them!

What do you do to relax? A hot cup of tea and a good magazine on a rainy evening sounds like a perfect relaxation time to me.

What do you want to change most about your world? I think it would be very beneficial if we all slowed down a bit. It’s hard sometimes when you have a lot to juggle. But when you slow down, you can think more and that’s very important.

What are you most proud of? I am proud of the fact that I’m living the life I dreamed of. I have a wonderful family and a fullfilling career. I couldn’t ask for more.

What advice would you like to offer other Start Up Princesses? The best advice I can offer is to learn from your mistakes. Your first business idea may have failed but there is always something to learn from it and to put forth into your next idea. We all make mistakes but what you do with those mistakes can determine the outcome of your future pursuits.

Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? The internet! There is so much information out there and there is nothing that can’t be answered. I find inspiration and information on the internet and it’s become an integral part of my business.

If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? Hmmm every girl loves diamonds eh? A diamond tiara sounds good to me

Search Engine Marketing Basics: Understanding How to Use Content to Your Advantage

Content is KING. I say it ALL THE TIME – ask anyone…really, go ahead…ask!  It’s very simply one of THE most important aspects to growing your web presence. But there’s a trick – a trick to making content work for you that a lot of individuals in online marketing won’t talk about.

The so called ‘trick’ is simply to understand HOW it works and WHAT the search engines are looking for in content. Once you understand this, you can use it to your advantage and isn’t it nice to have an advantage in growing your business?

What You Need to Know About Search Ranking
How a page ranks in the search engines is determined by that particular page’s attributes such as the number and quality of inbound links (inbound links are links coming from other sites and resources on the web), along with on the page factors such as keyword placement in title tags, copy, headers, etc.
Google (the Big Daddy of all search engines) places the most importance on the type and quality of inbound links you have coming into your site and the meta title tag. Get really good at understanding and using these two aspects of content and you’ll have Google eating out of your hand in no time!

Making Content Work for You
On the other hand, adding content in the form of articles, blog postings, resources, buyer’s guides, etc. can boost up your search rank and ultimately your traffic. What you are doing is creating more indexable content for the search engines to crawl (as well as attracting more links).

Content that is informative and written as a resource (always with your key words and search phrases in mind) also gives your site weight and legitimacy in the ‘eyes’ of the search engines. It’s a winning combination that is simple to employ and so well worth the time and effort.

*A note to remember – pages with few inbound links tend to slip out of the search rankings so you want to make sure the content is good and that people will want to link TO that content.

Now, just as an aside…there ARE ways to update content on the page to direct the search engine spiders to that page and then plant links to pages you want the search engine spiders to discover and index. It does speed up the process of getting new pages listed quicker. It won’t impact your ranking but it will be indexed in the search engines quicker so the content is more available. Your best bet, though, is to get it right the first time.

Misconceptions About How to Use Content
Taking the content of the page and rewriting it on a regular basis will not boost your web site rankings. In fact, it will more than likely pull your ranking down.

*Another note to remember…content SHOULD absolutely be updated/rewritten if it doesn’t contain any of the search phrases you want that particular page to rank for. I happen to see this a lot. Your main search phrases and keywords should also be reflected in your title tag, description and keyword tags up in the meta info in the head section of your site. (Hopefully you know this already…if you don’t we should probably set up some time to have a little chat)

Same goes for streaming an rss feed onto one of your web site pages. It doesn’t impact your ranking. It’s a cool tool and can generate traffic to the feed source but again, does not impact your ranking in the search engines.

Sonya Klepper  is an expert at mixing it up in the web development and web marketing arena with winning combinations each and every time. She is the owner of Truly Twisted Marketingwhich specializes in customized, out of the box, solutions to grow businesses with some seriously kickin’ modern design and mad marketing skills.

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