iPhone Craze: $12,500 for an iPhone? $140,000 for an iPhone domain?

My husband asked me earlier this week…do you want my Treo? No thanks. You sure? You really need one. No, I prefer my old Nokia brick phone. I used to have a nice phone but my daughter dunked it like her graham cracker in milk and trashed it. Now I prefer junkie phones with bad batteries so that I don’t talk to long. (Last month my phone bill as $200. Yikes.) Anyhow, I realized that my husband wanted the iPhone and to let me “upgrade” would help justify the purchase. So today we trekked with the family to Salt Lake City’s Gateway Apple Store like the other cool fans in Utah to ooh and aah over them. And yes, we purchased too. We not only bought 1 but we bought 5 (we bought 3 and a friend bought 2). WHY?? Well, because they were selling so high on eBay (YES, someone paid $12,500 for an iphone WHO IS THIS PERSON? Don’t you want to know!?), we decided to give it a try ourselves and see if we couldn’t at least make enough to pay for his phone. Well, sad to say, we weren’t fast enough. By the time we purchased and put up the auctions, the prices had dropped so low that the sellers will likely lose money on their purchases once they pay their eBay fees. Too bad we didn’t get the idea to sell on eBay earlier! BTW, we’ll be trekking back to the Apple store soon to return the phones, unless any of you want one…

Also, a crazy high auction for the web domain, iphonesvcs.com sold for $140,000.

Are you going to get an iPhone? If so, why? If not, why?

Are You A Canadian Mom Entrepreneur? Win $18,000 and Prizes

Here’s a great opportunity for Canadian Mom Entrepreneurs to get some exposure, network, and get noticed…and MAYBE even WIN The Savvy Mom MompreneurAward.

Apply HERE today, you can nominate yourself.

Create Incentives and Contests for Your Customers

Libraries have figured out how to get young children to read in the summer: incentive programs!

My 7 year old son woke up this morning a 7am to read. I’ve never seen such enthusiasm from a child to learn…or was it the prize waiting for him at the Library next week if he finished his 90 minutes required. He’s read 50 min. in 2 days…that’s more than he’s read in a month on his own–willingly. I have to hand it to summer programs at libraries who get kids excited about winning prizes, attending parties, and going on field trips if they complete their reading. I loved that the library also required not only reading on their own…but the books had to be checked out from the library, not from book clubs or from books we have at home, they have to be borrowed from the library, emphasizing a need to keep returning to the library and keep kids excited about what the library has to offer.

I never really thought of the library as being a business, but it is. If everyone stopped borrowing books and purchased from Amazon and getting research info on Google instead, then libraries could potentially go out of business and many jobs lost. Of course that would never happen, but I like that the local library has a marketing program.

What’s your marketing program? How are you getting your customers to return again and again? What incentives do you have in place? Are you running a contest or do you offer a gift with purchase? Do you offer free shipping? Do you have a free eBook for subscribing to your newsletter?

Today’s Magic Wand: Think about what incentives work for you…what motivates YOU to buy? Create an incentive for your customers this month. Let us know how it goes!

What incentives have you tried? What is effective for YOU? I’m going to call out a few members here: Lisa Rousseau, Carol Rice, Jamie Lentzer, Celest Benn, and Sabrina Bouyahi. Anyone else is welcome to comment also!

Use “Good Search” for Charity

Today’s Magic Wand: New Fairy Godmother Deborah Gardner of One Heart Bulgaria suggests using www.Good Search.com for your internet searches as they’ll give 1 penny per search to your favorite charity. If you use it put it on your tool bar so that you remember to use it and eventually it will add up…if you search as much as I do!

Last Day to Join Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind Group for ONLY $47 a Month

I’ve been blogging for almost 1 year and I haven’t taken advantage of all of the potential revenue that this site can generate–until NOW.

I am determined to make Start Up Princess profitable and one of the ways it will be profitable is by adding affiliate links, text link ads, and reviews…and more! These are some of the ideas I’ve learned from guru Yaro Starak, Blog Traffic King and of Entrepreneur Journey who is making good money on his sites and only blogging 1-2 hours a day. And the GREAT NEWS is that Yaro just released a BlogMastermind membership site and demonstrates how even beginners can make money who currently have no experience, no traffic, and no clue how to set up a blog! I seriously would have LOVED this kind of mentoring a year ago. I since I still have a lot to learn (because I haven’t made a cent from this blog yet) I’ve already joined the membership site.

The Blogging Mastermind membership site demonstrates exactly HOW to Blog and HOW to Make Money doing it. Here is a sneak peak video at what the Blogging Mastermind membership site will be. It’s a great video to demonstrate what you’ll get once you join.

The membership rate is only $47 a month; however TODAY IS THE LAST DAY to lock in that price after Wednesday, the fee will go up to $77 a month. Even at $77 it’s a great value, but I know you all want the better price!

Here’s the video and how to sign up. 

If you want to skip the video, you can sign up here.

Today’s Magic Wand: Another Treat! Yaro provides a *FREE* Blogging eBook, get your copy HERE. You can print the book and read it in about 30 minutes…full of super ideas for improving your blog today!

Create Strong Business Relationships with Your Suppliers

Enjoy some wisdom from Fairy Godmother Erika Wilde of Stop Dirt.com:

I just got back from a quick trip to Las Vegas for the Clean Show. It’s an elaborate gathering of laundry services associations, textile groups, and other dirt-removal-related businesses. Just my style!

The whole point of the trip (besides the endless chocolate crepes from The Paris) was to meet up with one of my suppliers – Mountville Mills from LaGrange, GA. The sales reps, some of the department heads, and even the president of the company come for the exhibit. These are all people who can help my business. And Vegas (for me) is a heck of a lot closer than Georgia for a quick get-together.

This got me to thinking about what each of us can do to nurture good supplier-seller relationships. I consider my relationships with my suppliers to be a vital part of customer service. While technically, I am my suppliers’ customer, they can make or break business for me.

Here are a couple of quick tips that have helped me create strong business relationships with my drop-ship suppliers:
• I always, always treat my suppliers professionally and respectfully–even when they screw things up.
• I go out of my way to make myself “real” to them – even if it means getting on an airplane and flying to Georgia.
• I send Christmas gifts. I send “just to say thank-you” emails. I send pictures of my kids and ask about theirs.
• I try to seek out and make suggestions on mutually beneficial improvements (ie: You could email those invoices instead of paying for the stamp or Keep my credit card on file so you’ll always have it.)

Through the years, I’ve been able to build real friendships that way, not just business partnerships. It’s been one of the most satisfying aspects of my business.

Today’s Magic Wand: If your business includes suppliers or vendors, take a moment to evaluate a few of those relationships today. What is going well? What could you do to improve the relationship? Have you ever met in person? Consider sending a thank you note for how they’re contributing to the success of your business.

How to Keep Your Blog Up AND Go on Vacation for 2 Weeks

Hello Friends of the Kingdom!
I’m back…(did you know I was gone? Probably not…!) I took a 2 week vacation to Florida (Disneyworld and St. Augustine.) Since I wanted to take a REAL vacation, I didn’t blog at all and only checked my email a few times…it was great! I feel really refreshed and ready to get back into life back here at the castle.

Here’s how I kept the site up while I was gone:

• I prepared 9 posts for while I was away ahead of time and post dated them for when I wanted them to be published on the site. If you don’t already do this with your blog, I highly recommend it. You use the “post timestamp” option and schedule the post to appear on the appropriate time and date you would like it to be published
• Interviews were conducted with several people via email
• Guest Bloggers contributed a few posts
• Lisa Callsen, our Virtual Assistant helped me a great deal with emails and keeping up with comments on the site as well

BTW, my strategy worked great AND my stats improved a great deal while I was away too! I’ll be doing MORE interviews…they seem to be very popular!

What’s Your Big Dream?

Fairy Godmothers Carrie and Danielle deliver this delightful post:

They say dreams are the windows of the soul – take a peek and you can see the inner workings, the nuts and bolts.
- Henry Bromel, Northern Exposure, “The Big Kiss,” 1991

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 the entire landscape of our lives.

Because they tend to be so precious and potent, many people keep their dreams and aspirations to themselves.

A dream is a very sacred thing to share.

Everyone’s got one, and if you knew their dream, you might look at the person very differently … with more tenderness, more respect, more familiarity, and more wonder than before. Dream-sharing melts boundaries.

Today’s Magic Wand: Look at everyone you meet and think to yourself, “Hmmm … I wonder what their dream is?” Ask at least one person this week what their dream is. You can do it subtly, and traditionally, like, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or “What did you want to be when you were growing up?” Or you can just go for it, playfully and momentously and ask, “So, what’s your big dream?” Make no assumptions about your partner, your workmate, or the bus driver. Small, mighty, seemingly impossible, or simply pure – when you know someone’s dream, your perspective leans forward to open.

A Visit With Non-Profit Co-Founder, Deborah Gardner of One Heart Bulgaria

Recently I visited with Start Up Princess Deborah Gardner, the Co-Founder of One Heart Bulgaria to hear about her recent trip to Bulgaria (March 2007) and get the latest updates on her non-profit that I have also been directly involved with over the years. I am personally committed to the success of One Heart Bulgaria because I lived in Bulgaria for 18 months (1994-95) as a volunteer with Deborah and Heidi Glyn Barker, co-founders experiencing Bulgarian culture firsthand, loving the people and witnessing the need for a non-profit such as One Heart Bulgaria to step in and serve thousands of devastated orphans.

A few years after returning home from Bulgaria, Deborah and Heidi Glyn Barker decided to do something to help…and founded a non-profit in both USA and in Bulgaria in 2003 to make it happen. I remember distinctively getting a call from Heidi late at night when she asked me if I would support them with this effort and serve as a Trustee and board member…I asked her, “What will I have to do?” And she replied, “I don’t know yet.” and I replied, “Great. I’m in.” It’s been an adventure ever since, most recently I produced a multiple artists benefit CD, “Courage to Shine”.

Today there is a full USA staff with Deborah serving as Executive Director and a Bulgarian staff as well. The objective behind the USA organization is to empower the Bulgarians to empower their orphaned. One Heart Bulgaria continues to develop outstanding programs that raise the level of hygiene, medical, nutrition, and educational training children ages 0-19 receive in orphanages.

On her recent trip in March to Bulgaria Deborah wanted to stay overnight with the children at the orphanages and despite being pregnant with her fifth child, she decided to sleep in the same conditions as the children and see what life was like for them. She was well-familiar with what happened when she visited the homes during the day, but it’s always been a question about what happens at night and she wanted to see firsthand. I thought this was a brave of her and it is an example of how Deborah is committed to see and hear the truth so she can be a part of making the changes necessary to improve the quality of life for these children. During this experience she became even more committed to her dream of creating “Opportunity Homes” for Teens.

Deborah’s greatest wish for One Heart Bulgaria in 2007 is to create “Opportunity Homes” for the older orphans who are being released from the orphanages at 18. Her Bulgarian Director, Nikolai Gavazov is looking for reasonably priced apartments or homes that we can renovate and turn into “Opportunity Homes.” She says, we have to find individuals or businesses who want to fund an apartment or house since OHB does not have the $40,000 to purchase a place ourselves. They can even put their name on it if they want, i.e. “The Smith Family Opportunity Home.” The LDS Humanitarian Services is most likely going to furnish it and then the Bulgarian government will provide a social worker at their cost. One Heart Bulgaria will run the program, requiring the social worker to work 40 hours a week at the home where she will teach the teens life and job skills so that they can successfully reintegrate into society after being in the program for 1 year (instead of having to prostitute themselves, deal drugs, or beg). The young adult orphans are required to pay a small rent and have a job. On my last trip, I visited a home like this that was successfully up and running in Bratsigovo–it was very impressive and really making a difference in the lives of the 12 orphans who live there.

If you can help grant Deborah’s wish or want to get involved as a sponsor to contribute to an “Opportunity Home”, volunteer, intern, or even visit orphanages in Bulgaria, please contact Deborah via the One Heart Bulgaria website or leave a comment here.

National Small/Business Awards Program Includes Top 50 Women Owned Businesses

Attention Start Up Princesses and all other Royalty who qualify, consider this oppportunity: 

8th Annual National Small/Diversity Business Awards Program Announced SOUTHPORT, CT, June 1, 2007/ — DiversityBusiness.com, which is the nation’s most prestigious and leading small business Internet portal will be conducting it’s 8th annual “Top Small Businesses in America” survey. This year’s survey will determine the Top 500 Small Businesses, Top 500 Women Owned Businesses and Top 500 Diversity Owned Businesses in the United States. Also, for each State, the Top 50 Small Businesses, Top 50 Women Owned Businesses and Top 50 Diversity Owned Businesses. To be a member of this elite group is indeed an honor. DiversityBusiness research has been recognized and published by the world’s most preeminent publications including Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of media outlets throughout the world. Honorees will be recognized and honored at the 8th Annual Multicultural Business Conference in April of 2008 in Orlando, Florida. The national data collection effort is a massive undertaking.

In order to participate, businesses must register at www.DiversityBusiness.com/BusinessAwards. All Small, Women and Minority owned businesses are encouraged to register. Last years winners received enormous recognition and exposure for their companies. DiversityBusiness is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive online resources for Small, Women, and Minority owned businesses and large procurement organizations. It is a membership-based exchange platform that facilitates contacts and communication, streamlines business processes and provides vital business news and information. “Diversity businesses are now a fundamental element of the business landscape in America”, said Kenton Clarke, CEO of DiversityBusiness.com. “Our job is to provide full administrative and organizational support to our members at every stage of their business cycles. With DiversityBusiness behind them, companies can devote all energies to expanding their multicultural markets: publicizing their organization, negotiating contracts, and providing or receiving goods and services”, said Clarke. We are dedicated to continually working toward a prosperous, nationwide small business community. Our mission is to provide a powerful nationwide platform for the expansion of multicultural business opportunities.

About DiversityBusiness.com Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 35,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity-owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, national press, government agencies, and colleges and universities.

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