Common Mistakes: Websites for Women

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Fairy Godmother Holly Buchanan has been preparing the final draft of her book, co-authored with Michele Miller, Marketing to Women Online. I just read three of her recent posts about common mistakes made on websites for women. Holly’s uses the website, All Moms Go To Heaven as a case study.

Here is a summary of her recent posts, Common Mistakes 1, Common Mistakes 2, and Common Mistakes 3:

Developing an Effective Home Page:

• Your homepage must communicate who you ARE and what you DO in copy, not just images; Holly says, “it should show why we should care”
• Consider the “action window” (center of the page) and what action items you want your readers to do, SIGN UP for something? BUY something? what is it that YOU “do?” Are your links/buttons obvious to get them to click to your desired “action?
• Are you answering their questions? (What did they come to your site to “do”? learn something? buy something?)

Consider Privacy for Your Online Forms:

• The less info you require, the more likely you will have better results/more people signing up
• Consider requiring only “first name” rather than both first/last and email address
• Privacy Policies are a must (that you won’t sell or share their info to anyone, etc.)
• Remember that you are building a relationship with your consumer!

Creating Clear Categories:

• Provide copy that “provides guidance” for the reader to find what they are looking for and what is available
• Put your categories as text links in your active window

We’re pleased to announce that Fairy Godmother Holly Buchanan will be a featured speaker at the First National Start Up Princess conference Sept 22 in Salt Lake City, Utah! She will be sharing even more marketing to women online gems. Save the date and plan to join us! For more info to come, to get on the mailing list please contact us.

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Launching a Non-Profit Business? We Want to Meet You!

Looking at the Start Up Princess.com you’d think that we are only concerned about For Profit businesses…NOT TRUE! We’re very concerned and interested in supporting start ups that focus on humanitarian work or charities. In an effort to recruit more non-profit members and assist those who already have a 501c(3), we’re going to dedicate several posts in June to specifically serve our friends with non-profits.  If you know of any women entrepreneurs with a non-profit business (or is trying to start one), please contact us and we will consider them for a feature.

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Is Your Brand Charismatic?

Today’s Magic Wand: Check out this great, quick, thought-provoking and FREE branding slide show shared by Fairy Godmother Rachael Herrscher of Today’s Mama.

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News of The Start Up Princess Kingdom

Congrats to several members of our Amazing Start Up Princess Kingdom:

Start Up Princess “Raw Melissa“ just opened “The Food Garden” restaurant in Provo, Utah with another couple of women entrepreneurs.

Start Up Princess Deborah Gardner of One Heart-Bulgaria recently traveled to Bulgaria to visit orphanages and further develop programs including remodeling of orphanages and visiting hospitals where orphans were undergoing life-saving surgeries.

Start Up Princess Tammy Gibson of InstyleMoms recently won the Stroller Fit “Mom of the Month”award

Fairy Godmother Rachael Herrscher and Start Up Princess Stephanie Peterson, co-founders of Today’s Mama recently won Utah’s Best of State’s Innovation Award for their Today’s Mama Handbooks.

Start Up Princess Abby Miller of Before Kids was featured in Parenting magazine in May

Start Up Princess Liz Rosenbaum of Scrapbooks.com recently sold her business, founded by her mother twenty-five years ago.

Start Up Princess Lisa Rousseau and Start Up Princess Angela Perera of Walking Spree donated over $20,000 in value by offering 140 USB Pocket Pedometers and online support to Avon Walk for Breast Cancer to be distributed among the eight cities as a training tool for walkers and raffled as prizes to encourage walkers to register

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Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time

It’s true…isn’t it? Timing is everything. Like our recent discussion on multi-tasking, “timing” is another topic I’ve been exploring in order to be more effective. “Timing” is partners with “planning”…planning the right time to do a task is essential. Particularly when you have a home-based business or are a mom entrepreneur, I think that planning and being organized is especially critical. I struggle with this all the time because I get so excited about a project that I just try and make it fit into my day.

Sometimes my timing backfires on me…painfully, for example, I had bad timing last week when I sent off a business email without proofreading it properly and left off half a sentence. Or when I tried to call conference venues while my baby was fusing on my lap. On the other hand, I had great timing when I got up early this morning refreshed after a great weekend and was able to have my morning devotional, check emails and start working before any kids got up. So what makes the difference? For me, it appears that I have better timing to do my work when I set aside effective quiet ‘chunks of my day’ to do the tasks that require my full attention minus kids running around and then pay attention to house chores, etc. when there’s shall we say…more activity abounds in the house!

It boils down to self-mastery. Yikes. Do I have to be disciplined? Do I have to set aside time to do my finances when I’d really rather read a magazine and soak in the tub? Only if I want my business to be profitable. Do I have to set aside key time to plan our next conference when I’d rather run off to the park with my kids on a beautiful sunny day? No/Yes. I can set aside time to do both. Take advantage of the sun. Take advantage of kids who are tired after playing in the sun and take a longer nap!

Today’s Magic Wand: I challenge us all to ask: Am I doing the right thing at the right time for myself, for my family, for my business? Can I make a better choice?

Tell us when you’ve made a great choice to do the right thing at the right time with your start up business!

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My Wish Came True: Meeting Seth Godin

Today was the day! I had the pleasure of meeting Seth Godin in SLC and hearing him speak about his new book The Dip. It was fun (and a lot of work!) to be part of the WordMob team that brought Seth to Utah. For fun I presented Seth with a magic wand cookie with his name on it because of his kind link to Start Up Princess last Fall that greatly boosted our readership and traffic, plus a cookie that looked exactly like the cover of his book made by Cookies by Design…very fun. Thanks to Ash Buckles who took the photo! I took detailed notes, but Phil Windley beat me in posting, so here they are.

Something that really impressed me about Seth was that when he arrived literally seconds before he was to present to a few hundred people, he was able to shift gears from travel frenzy to presentation mode very quickly and he was completely unruffled when he found out that there was no projector (how our team missed that minor detail is beyond me! Sorry Seth!) In fact, I could see Seth and Phil Burns discussing the projector and it was very simple, Seth asked where it was and Phil said there wasn’t one, apologizing and Seth just smiled, patted Phil on the shoulder and moved on… he improvised and set up his laptop as cue cards on the side and just casually referred to them as he moved forward with focused energy, I was on the front row so I could see the laptop screen, but for the average guest, no one would even know that Seth had cue slides to follow. Seth is a master story teller. Not only can he write, but he’s animated, he’s interesting, and brilliant. He’s well-read on a variety of subjects (the Q&A demonstrated that well) and he’s just plain nice! I’ve had the opportunity to get to know him a tad via email and I can tell you he cares about people and cares about others’ success. It’s a beautiful thing to see in a superstar like Seth Godin.

As a WordMob team member I was able to take a sponsorship table and I was excited to meet several people at the event and share Start Up Princess with them…surprisingly there was very few women entrepreneurs there I didn’t already know–Start Up Princess members who attended were: Fairy Godmother Janet Meiners, Fairy Godmother Erika Wilde, Lorri Randle, Carolynn Duncan, and Monica Buckle. I did meet many Start Up Wizards though…it appears that I need to find another venue for marketing to women next time, this event was primarily male, but regardless, it was fun to have a sponsor table and participate that way.

Today’s Magic Wand: I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite things Seth said in his presentation:

You shouldn’t get an MBA! There’s very little statistics that it helps you in the end to make more money than those who don’t get an MBA. Instead, he’d like to see you intern for a non-profit for 2 years and figure out how to share their message with the world, even if you don’t get paid for it, you are only out your living expenses, not tuition too…you’ll have real world experience which is the most valuable kind.

(So, Seth does that mean that my 2 year volunteer-service as Program Director for One Heart Bulgaria was my MBA? Sounds good to me.)

He also said that “there’s a worldwide shortage for superstars in the world!” Think about niches…if you own a niche then you are the superstar for it. For example, Erika Wilde is the superstar for floor mats, I’m sure she never thought of being a superstar for floor mats when she was a little girl, but she is and now she’s making a great online business because of it.

Ultimately “The Dip” isn’t about quitting…it’s about mastering, being the best in the world and give yourself permission to do something else that you can master.”

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Is Multi-Tasking Effective for Mom Entrepreneurs?

I think as mom entrepreneurs we’re constantly multi-tasking…we have conversations with colleagues while we’re having conversations with children, we cook dinner while we listen to books on CD, we combine exercise with cleaning our houses, etc…sometimes it works for me and well, other times, it just doesn’t!

I feel that I’m a much more effective entrepreneur when I’m 100% there. And I know I’m a better mom when I’m 100% there. So why do I constantly try and do 50-50? I’m on a quest for productivity! I’m obsessed with my “to do” list and keep forgetting fundamental principles that my coaches have taught me such as “my magic 15 minutes a day of planning in the early morning” and “keep your to do list to 3 main tasks a day”, and carving out time to work and time to be with kids as separate.

Even today I got an email from someone I respect a great deal who told me:

For me, I have finally realized that I can only do one thing at a time and I have to accept that. And when I do, I am much happier. When I accept that the laundry can wait the book chapter can wait but my kids will only be in this moment with me ONCE. And so I schedule a babysitter once or twice a week for help and try to squeeze in as much as I can while she is there. Everything else I let go.

I’m going to try really hard to take her advice, I believe she’s right.

How are YOU getting things done as a mom entrepreneur?

I invite you all to comment, but specifically:

Jamie DaDant, Crafty Babies

Laura Howard West, Center for Joyful Business

Merri Hackett, Golf Course Artwork

Lauren Sorgaard, North Country Essentuals

Margie Zable Fisher, Zable Fisher PR

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3 Zero Investment Online Business Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Intrigued by the concept of starting a small passive income business? Here’s three possibilities to consider:

1. ZLIO, is an online store for those who want to do a-commission based/affiliate store; it’s awesome! They say they have 1 million products to choose from, so there’s options for everyone. Without any start up costs you can register, select products, and then start to get a commission off products sold on your site. You can tell your friends about your store and even purchase from your own site. I decided to try out the site and see if it really was as easy as they said…and it was.

Here is the store I made in about 8 minutes. You can only buy a ballerina jewelry box right now, but if I wanted to add more products I could. Note that ultimately the product will be sent through a 3rd party contracted through Amazon. I suspect this European concept will be the new rage, particularly for college students who want to experience online business. If you’re going to do a Zlio store think about a theme such as electronics or books…

2. Start a Blog or add affiliate links to an existing website. I’m going to be using Commission Junction for affiliate links. I’ve just been approved for Vista Prints, Blue Host, and a few others that I feel will be a good match for our readers and their interests. Your revenue per sale can be anywhere from $5-90 depending on what the company offers and some affiliates pay for clicks.

3. For creative types… think of a fun t-shirt idea and you could make money on Cafe Press. I have a friend who sells 1 or more t-shirts a day there from his blog (so he makes $10 a day+), that’s great shoe or vacation money!

Today’s Magic Wand: Consider the value of creating multiple streams of income as an entrepreneur, what sounds easy and appealing to you?

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What Will Your Legacy Be?

Grandma Margaret Brandley Larsen passed away last week at age 85, married for 61 years… leaving a large family– 10 children, 50 grand-children, and 37 great-grandchildren! I was one of the lucky ones to be married into the family–as she’s my husband’s grandmother. We have lived 10 minutes from her home since we got married and often spent time there with our children. We’ll miss her greatly. I want to spend just a moment honoring this beautiful woman who touched so many lives.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned and appreciated about Grandma:

• She had a passion for learning her whole life through. She memorized many poems and quoted them to us as a family during times of travel, work, or when we needed an uplifting message. Even though she married after her freshman year of college she was diligent in completing her undergraduate degree and also a master’s degree.
• She was charitable–always more concerned about others than herself. She often called to say, “I’m thinking of you…how are you doing?” (and we were one of her many, many relatives!) She remembered birthdays and important events in our lives. She made herself available to help and serve whenever possible, she loved tending children
• She accepted life’s challenges and saw them as opportunities for growth…even with cancer she was optimistic and courageous. She had a great deal of faith and trust.
• She organized amazing family gatherings, including children’s parades, easter egg hunts, games, and art projects, and taught us about our ancestors
• She always expressed her love for us and made us feel cherished by telling us specifically things that she appreciated or valued

Today’s Magic Wand: Although we’re all trying to create powerful, uplifting businesses that leave a legacy, let’s remember that it’s our families…our friends…our loved ones that matter most. Let’s make sure we schedule time to make phone calls to our grandmas, our aunts, our children…and visit them as often as we can.

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Why Are You Trying to Convince Me to Be an Entrepreneur?

HOBY Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership organization Utah chapter recently met for a weekend retreat at Aspen Grove, Sundance and I was honored to be one of the panelists to answer questions about Entrepreneurship for the high school students. I absolutely love high school leadership camps and student government. I feel that some of my best training for entrepreneurship was as student body president and other leadership/service opportunities in high school and college. As a result, I’m very passionate about mentoring young adults and always find speaking and associating with these groups to be among my greatest joys in life. These teens represent our future leaders!

The panel had several entrepreneurs, angel investors, and business professionals, including the funny and creative Kristen of Cowpie Clocks! After each of us introduced ourselves the audience was invited to address a member of the panel for specific questions. I was asked a question about my Princess Sweet business plan and about Start Up Princess…then one girl said, “This question is for Kelly Anderson…Why are you trying to convince me to be an entrepreneur?“ I was a little surprised by her question and I had to think about it for a moment before answering.

Here is my reply:

I’m not trying to convince anyone to be an entrepreneur. I believe that you have to want to be an entrepreneur…being an entrepreneur is hard work and you better be passionate about it or else you shouldn’t do it…not only is it your time and energy, but it is often other people’s resources and money. You must be committed to put in long hours and there’s risk.

What I am trying to do here is to convince you to be leaders…to head up a project and make a difference in the world. I didn’t realize until much later in life that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I now realize that being a leader in high school prepared me for being an entrepreneur today. If you organize a service project you are learning valuable skills that will serve you well later on. You’re networking, you’re fundraising, you’re managing a team, and you’re working towards a cause. Get involved in something great right now. Fundraise for orphans, do a service project…help the homeless. Along the way you might realize like I did that that you want to be an entrepreneur because you are so passionate about an idea and you can’t sit still…you have to make it happen.

So there’s my answer…is it convincing? Be a leader first…entrepreneurship may or may not follow, but as a leader–you’re creating a better world for all of us. And, if you do want to be an entrepreneur, then we hope Start Up Princess can be there for you to help you learn and network…and succeed.

After the panel we met with several small groups and talked some more …that’s when the connections take place, when you’re sitting at a table with high school students talking about life dreams and how to achieve them. Gotta love it.

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