Exquisite Taste: The Diva WAHM Network

You’ve decided to take your business to the next level, and this involves bringing your own product to market. Whether you’ve decided to develop an info product or you’ve invented the next gadget destined for QVC or HSN fame, there are a few steps you can take to ensure your new product has the best chance of succeeding and being a profitable investment for your business. An important aspect of this process is to understand when (and how) you need to protect your intellectual property.

1. Do your market research: The chief reason why products fail is that no one needs or wants them. Test your idea with target buyers. Online surveys, Google Adwords campaigns and conversations with people who you think will buy your product can quickly let you know if the product has legs.

2. Develop a prototype: If you’re working on a physical product, create what inventors call a “looks alike, works alike” prototype. You can do this at home in your garage or hire someone through a site like Elance.com to do this for you. The idea here is a proof of concept: You want to be able to demonstrate that the product works and describe how in specific detail.

3. Decide if you need a patent: A patent shows that you developed an original product or process and prevents competitors from just copying it. Patents are used when you’ve created a unique product. Patents also protect unique processes like a software program or new and improved designs. You can conduct your own patent search to see if anything like your product already exists and read more about the patent process at: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/search/. A patent attorney can help with conducting a patent search, as well as actually filing the patent.

4. Determine if a copyright is appropriate: If your product is an original written work, like a book, you’ll want to protect it with a copyright. Copyrights protect the author’s right to sell and make money from original writing, art or music and prevent other people from doing so. To copyright a document, simply note at the bottom of the document that it’s copyrighted to you or your business, and add the date (for example, copyright Susan Smith & Virtual Assistance LLC 2012). You can also file formal documents with the US government via http://www.copyright.gov/.

5. Trademark any brand names: A trademark protects your brand and specific elements such as your business name, product names, logos, or taglines). While you don’t need a trademark, it helps prevent people from damaging your hard won brand recognition. To learn more, see http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp.

Once you’ve established this foundation, it’s time to take your product to customers. Now you’re ready to put a good sales and marketing plan in place and start selling!

Author Bio

Jennifer D’Angelo contributes writing to Red Chalk Group, an international company based in Chicago. She has a strong interest in the patent and intellectual property interests of small businesses.

A press release can be a powerful tool to help spread the word about a business.  The key to an effective press release is writing about something that people will perceive as newsworthy.  Press releases aren’t meant to be a sales ad, but rather a news story to generate public interest in the news media.  Today, I’d like you to figure out what may be newsworthy about your business and create and distribute a press release to publicize it.

First off, you need to decide what to write about. You can write about a new location opening, a community event you’re hosting, a new product launch, a charitable event you’re organizing, etc.  What you don’t want to write about is a general product promotion, ordinary sale, etc.  Your press release won’t get picked up if its perceived as nothing more than a regular advertisement.  If all else fails and you can’t think of anything else to write about, we all have something in common that is quite extraordinary that many news media will love…the fact that you’re a local mompreneur trying to make it in your community!  It’s estimated that there are now about 4,000,000 mompreneurs in the US.  It’s a huge trend as our economy struggles and more and more moms are trying to make ends meet for their families by adding an extra income stream.  You can highlight yourself as a local mom trying to do just that to your local media.  I’ve written a press release to introduce our local groups that focuses on this angle.  

Once you know what to write about, you’ll want to create your press release.  There’s a standard format that’s used, and to have the best chances of being picked up, you’ll want to use it!  To help you get started, I’ve created a template for you. You can use it to lay the groundwork for your release!

As far as content, you’ll want to follow some of the basic rules of news-writing.  I know you’re not all journalists, so this may be tricky, but here are a handful of general guidelines to follow as you write.

1. You’ll start with a headline.  It should be brief and to the point, but enticing so that a reader will want to learn more and keep reading. 
2. You’ll write the headline in bold, all caps and center it on the page.
3. You can then enter a sub-header to explain your article in more detail.  You want to be catchy here and elaborate on the angle of your story.
4. Now you’ll work on the body.  Your first paragraph should contain all pertinent information about the story, including the who, what, where, when and why.  Your first paragraph should include the meat and bones of the story and include all the facts.  The remaining paragraphs should include more details about the story to supplement the main message.  A good rule of thumb is to write your paragraphs in order of importance.  The most important information being first and the least important information being at the end.
5. A press release, as with any news story, is always written in third person.
6. Your press release should be at least 500 words.  On the flip-side, try not to make it too long and try to keep it all on one page if possible.
7. News-writing is a bit different than regular writing.  I was actually a journalism/advertising major in college and did quite a bit of news-writing.  We follow a format called AP style in journalism.  There are many subtle differences in the writing style.  I often find myself forgetting what and where I am writing and combine regular grammar with AP style, a curse of many journalists.  If you’d like to learn more about proper news-writing for future reference, I suggest picking up an AP style book.  It’s a neat read.

Once you’ve got your press release written, now you need to decide where to submit it.  If you’re going with a local angle, you’ll want to stick with local media.  Research newspapers and magazines in your area, from small community papers to larger regional ones.  Identify the editors of the area you’d like to be published in.  This information is readily available online.  You’ll then email a copy of your press release to the appropriate editor.  Be sure not to send more than one email to a publication.  No one likes a spammer and being too persistent may lead to your article getting thrown in the garbage (or trash bin of their email inbox)!

If you have an angle to your press release that is not local to your area, you should also submit your press release to online submission services.  There are so many out there, some are paid and some are free.  For a free service, check out www.prlog.org.  They’ll get your press release distributed across the net and it won’t break into your business’s budget!

Which one of these issues is preventing you from finding party plan bookings?

• You do not know where to find business leads.
• You DO know where to find business but do not have the skills to get that business.
• You are not motivated or willing to develop your skills or seek out that business.

Now, I’m not bashing any other sites in the space at all, but there are a lot of misconceptions out there about the work at home mom community with numerous sites selling “opportunities” rather than giving advice. We wanted to create a site that offered legit information to women with goals of kicking ass and taking names while working from home.

Our goal was to show women that being a work at home mom was not a negative and that there are many women doing it very successfully.

In light of that, I’d like to discuss a few myths associated with the WAHM entrepreneur moniker and shed some light on the reality about them.

The fact is that many people feel the phrase “work at home moms” is interchangeable with “party plan representatives” and it’s simply not true. While party plan products are a great work at home opportunity for some, it is definitely not the avenue every WAHM travels down.

Secondly, you’d be surprised how much really motivated party plan reps make. I personally know three that net six figures a year – which is likely more than the people who mistakenly look down upon their career choice as a “hobby for stay at home moms.” As with ANY career path, it’s all about your motivation and what you make with it.

Not all of us sell candles. But you know what? Selling candles can be really freaking lucrative for people with the motivation and business sense to rock the hell out of it.

Absolutely false. As I said above, it all comes down to the motivation of the individual and is not dependent upon whether they choose to make their company home base their home versus at an out of home office location.

There are women out there building multimillion dollar companies from their home offices while their children play in the other room. It simply takes a lot of organization (or hired help) to make it all work.

Another falsehood. Some people actually work better from home. I know because I’m definitely one of them.

I had a “real office” for several years with multiple employees working within it. It took me an hour to get ready, twenty minutes to get there and another forty minutes to say my “hellos” and get settled in to start working.

I felt like that was two hours each day that I lost in productivity by being in a physical office location, so I made the decision to close my office when I moved from Canada and not open another one in Texas (where I moved to).

Many people hear work at home mom and picture a women with a frazzled face, a kid grasping each leg and cheerios in their hair, but it’s simply not true.

First, not all work at home moms work from home without child care. I myself have in home child care five days a week. I “go” to my home office each day the same as anyone else would go to a “real” office. But I can pop my head out when I want to (or need to) and spend free moments with my kids during the day.

And even those who do work from home without full time child care find ways to make it work. Successful work at home moms simply have to have “multitasking” as a primary skill on their resume. Couple your mobile broadband, laptop and your younger children’s favorite park and you can easily get several solid hours of work in while your kids have fun and keep themselves occupied. Many moms have school aged children giving them a solid six hour work day each day. We make it happen.

Most entrepreneurs start with nothing and build as they go along. When I started my company, I DID work in the smallest corner of my house on a plywood computer cart. And Apple and Amazon got their start in garages. It’s just that some of us choose not to leave our home office once our businesses take off, especially if we’re not in product sales.

My current office is a dedicated room in my home, painted to my taste with decor lining the walls. I have a solid wood desk that I probably paid too much for, an awesome office chair, an office grade printer/fax/copier/scanner, a separate phone line, a 27 inch iMac with an additional 27 inch Apple monitor. I also have my MacBook Pro laptop for when I feel like working from other locations in my house. Not to mention my iPad, BlackBerry, hosted exchange service and thousands of dollars worth of software installed on my computers.

And I’m not alone. I know several moms with sweet setups that would kick the ass of many you’d ever find in a physical office location. Working from home makes us no less likely to have all the amenities of a physical office location. Just like working from an office location doesn’t ensure we’re not working from a folding chair.

First let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with working from home part time and earning “pocket money”. For many moms, that’s the goal – a part time income to fund football, dance classes or the annual family vacation. And kudos to them for making it happen.

But motivated full time work at home moms can make significant income. I know several WAHM millionaires. Where we work and whether or not we have children at home while we work does not determine our earning potential. Our earning potential, like the rest of society, is determined by our own goals, desire, determination and hard work.

So the next time you hear the term WAHM entrepreneur, remember that they’re not to be dismissed and that many are an entrepreneurial force to be reckoned with.

And if YOU are a WAHM entrepreneur yourself, remember that the sky is the limit on what you and your business can achieve and never let anyone convince you otherwise.

But what about the more expensive parties? Well, next month, I’ll be in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace, throwing a dinner party for my friends. The cost will be in the low 5 figures, and will be fully deductible. Why? It’s tied to a tax conference. The invitees are TaxMama’s students, readers, friends and their guests. And if even one of those people bring along a friend who signs up for my EA Exam Review class – the party is nearly paid for.  In fact, several of the ‘guests’ have turned into students and passionate fans – and friends.

OK, so you’re not going to Vegas just to write off a party. How can you go about writing off a party in your own home or area?

Make the party a sales pitch for your business or product, or the affiliate program(s) you represent. Tupperware was famous for their sales parties. Then came the lingerie parties. Sports fans can host fantasy sports parties. You can hold read-a-thons for children, or play time with toys from affiliate programs.  Even back to school parties.

Let your imagination run wild. What kind of blatant marketing party can you throw – including prizes (samples of product) for participation – and for levels of purchases – or for new recruits.

What about the cost of spouses and children coming to such parties? Frankly, when it comes to network marketing programs, spouses and children are often fully involved. Exposing them to these experiences makes them aware of the products. And it gives them something to talk about to their friends as well.

Why do you think millions of dollars worth of advertising budgets are targeted towards children? Children are intense consumers. They exert a powerful influence on their parents’ buying habits.

What can you write off at such parties?

The products you consume from your inventory, naturally. The costs of food, beverages and any special entertainment to enhance the mood. The decorations. The invitations.

If you hold one marketing party each month, you’ll not only have a great time, you’ll meet new contacts, make new friends, and increase your sales.

What kinds of parties should you not expect to write off?

Weddings, bar mitzvahs, confirmations, graduations, Quinceañeras, etc. These are purely social or religious. IRS has a lot of experience with people trying to write off such parties.

Plan your Marketing Calendar for the entire summer

~Having a plan can save you soooo much time!  Even though you sometimes need to be off the cuff when you are working online due to all of the changes that occur so quickly ... it is still very important to have a plan laid out a head of time for the tasks you need to complete for your marketing plan to work.  Having that plan laid out for the summer months ahead of time will make it much easier to schedule your daily tasks according to your limited summer schedule.  So have a plan, put in on your daily, weekly, and monthly calendar and then delegate as much as possible.

When you first started your business, you developed an online brand by creating social networking pages and directory listings.  Chances are, that was quite some time ago.  Your business has likely evolved since then, but, your business description and information on those sites is probably still the same.  Today’s task is to visit every place on the web where you have information about your business.  From your Facebook info page to your Twitter profile, directory listings to yellow page ads, make sure to visit each and every one of these sites and ensure that the information listed is up to date and accurately reflects your current business position.

Most WAHMs don’t have much in the way of a budget.  They’ll often times jot down some notes, or other times just keep it all in their heads.  The problem with both actions is its easy to get carried away with spending, or worse, lose focus on the financial state of a business.

Today’s task will be to evaluate your business’s budget.  If you don’t have a budget, it’s time to create one.  You can use an online budget software, like Quickbooks, but, unless you have a million expenses and a variety of income streams, your budget can actually be quite simple and you can easily create a budget on your own.  You can print 12 copies, one for each month, and place them in a notebook for your reference.  Each page will allow you to budget for anticipated income and expenses, track actual income and expenses, and see a snapshot of your financial picture at the end of the month.

If you already have a budget, today I’d like you to revisit it to make sure it’s still relevant to your business today and make any adjustments if necessary.

When creating or adjusting your budget, keep all expenses in mind, including cost of goods, advertising, office supplies, etc.  As far as amounts, only you know what you can afford and what you should budget each month for each particular item.

One item to note, however, is how to budget for advertising.  Advertising is a crucial part of your business, and as such, it must be budgeted for appropriately.  There are many recognized methods for budgeting advertising, but most are too complicated for WAHMs.  Instead of using those, here’s a simple formula for you.  Take 5% of your anticipated monthly revenue and place it into your advertising budget.  So, if you plan to make $1,000 in sales, your advertising budget for that month will be $50.

As you move forward with your budget, keep in mind that you can make adjustments to it as needed.  It’s important to revisit it frequently to make sure you’re staying on top of your finances and growing a successful, profitable business.

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About the author: Amy Stewart-Wright is an 80' music listening, WAH rockin', outdoor loving, Moxie Momma who lives in North Carolina with her husband and 4 kids. Her dream and passion is to inspire thousands of women to find their passions and live their happiest life.