Meet Elysse Fleece. She is a military wife and a mom to her Little Monster as he is called. She started Kozzy Bottoms from a love of cloth diapering and her passion for crafts. Its been a great way to keep the family together and it’s soothing for her. She has always loved to craft and to be able to do this for others is amazing. She never would have thought this would be her! Please tell us about your business and the service that you provide. Kozzy Bottoms is a online children’s boutique. We carry many “green” products that are associated with cloth diapering and parenting. Along with the accessories and diapers we hand make hair accessories, tutus, clothing and more. It’s a great way to get all your shopping done at one place. www.kozzybottoms.com
What motivated you to start your business?
We started cloth diapers later in the game and loved it. We listened to everyone in the start how we would hate having cloth diapers and then when I actually saw a cloth diaper I was shocked! There are no pins to stab or boiling or trouble. You simply put them on just like a regular diaper and then wash it vs. trashing it. After doing cloth we found the advantages to be so amazing we wanted to help other families see this. The money you save, better for your baby and the environment and they potty train sooner. Its just a great thing to try, at least try. What kind of background or expertise do you have in your field?
We cloth diapered our son and I remember vividly how intimidated I was when I bought my first used diaper. I was so scared and confused when I got it home. I wanted to help other from feeling that confusion and its harder to step in and try cloth diapers later. We cloth diapered my son before his first birthday so we have been there with the confusion and the frustration. What trends do you see in your current industry?
Cloth is becoming a huge baby product! Its so great to see how people adapt to it and want to try it. The stigma that was associated with it; the pins, and tucking, and folding and diaper services and the poop are all a distant memory now. You can find pretty much every style, color or print of diaper that you want so there is no excuse. They are a great investment and as people have to pinch money now they are seeing the value in cloth diapers. It is so great to see how people are wanting to do better for their babies and themselves and cloth is something that people should consider. What are the most demanding aspects about your business?
Time management. As a military wife I have to manage with a deployed spouse and the demands of his job, a very active toddler who is a boy (enough said right!) and still taking care of the family and house and create our products. Being able to give each thing the attention it deserves is something that I am still trying to figure out a year later. What are the most rewarding aspects about your business?
I love getting pictures of children in our products. There is nothing more rewarding then seeing a smiling child because they are so happy. Or a parent who was so confused about diapers and then just seeing that moment when it clicks. Being able to help someone is such a great honor.
Being able to be home with my son is another reward all on its own. I love that I have been here for all his firsts. As hard as it can be to manage everything seeing my son happy and getting involved too is so much fun. What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a business like yours?
Learn time management and do your research. It is so much harder to implement things then it seems. It all looks so easy on paper but to actually time things is so much harder. And ask for help, there is nothing wrong about asking for help. What are you most proud of as a parent-preneur?
That my son is able to see his mom take something she truly enjoys doing and create a business from it. It is a great thing for my son to see that he is not limited by dreams and that with hard work he can make it a reality. That my son is also following in my footsteps already! He actually makes a couple of our products which is fun to sit down and create together. It’s a great bonding and learning time and to be able to do that with my son and still make it a business is the best. How have you been able to balance your time between work and your family?
I still have the worst time with it. I find it makes for very very late nights where I am still trying to get things done but I am learning to ask for help or to just put things on the back burner. No everything needs to be completed right then and there; there is a time to do everything. Just make sure it’s on the calendar or I forget! I must have at least 6 calendars in my house just to keep track or orders, appointments, play dates and even when the garbage goes out. Its learning to find the balance that works for your and your family. What has been the most effective way for you to promote and market yourself?
Facebook and word of mouth. We try all avenues for getting our product out there and we have great friends who have helped us along the way. Finally: What does your “Milk Money” provide for you and your family?
The ability to one day take a family vacation! We want to be able to take our son to Disney and have a actual family vacation. There is always something preventing us from having a real family vacation and one day we hope to be able to turn off the phones, the computers, pack away the combat boots for a while and just enjoy time together as a family.
Remember what we were like before we became parents?
Barely, but yes.
When my husband and I decided to create a family, for some stupid reason we thought our children would just easily fit into our busy lives like a new puppy. We had no idea the culture shock…the physical, mental and emotional transformation that would come about once our children became the centerpiece in our lives.
No matter how much we had prepared, how many books we read, how much research we did – everything took a detour once baby made 3.
For many of us, the desire to become our own boss didn’t fully transpire until we became parents. Our careers may have suited us just fine before we took on the parenthood project. We didn’t necessarily leave our careers because we didn’t have time for them anymore. All of a sudden we had a new love, something that filled our hearts and gave us more purpose than before. The dilemma came when we realized we still had more to give.
Now more than ever, there should never be a question how necessary it is that we claim our success and stand up for our smart and savvy selves. No one can travel down your path, hold your actions accountable, or celebrate your story as well as you. All this requires is a little creative discipline, and you really can fit it all into one life. This may not have been the path that you started out on, but if your look closely, you’ll see that this one is better….for awhile.
Nothing stays the same.
Don’t mean to freak you out, but your kids will be grown and more self sufficient before you know it. I used to DREAM of a time that they could walk themselves to school and entertain themselves without interrupting my work day. I couldn’t wait to have time to myself to accomplish MORE.
Well, here we are.
We’ve accomplished a lot and now it’s time to venture back into the career (and the salary) we deserve.
If you are already there, and ready to bring all of your entrepreneur skills and experience back into the corporate workforce, you may be facing an uphill battle. Thousands of highly qualified women with prodigious value to offer are being ghosted and denied employment. We get it, and we are here for you. Our nonprofit services were created with you in mind. Visit us at OurMilkMoney.org to learn more.
Social networking can seem a little daunting if you’ve never dipped your toes in. There are so many different sites – What is each one about? Which ones should you sign up for? How do you use them? In this crash course, you’ll learn enough about each social network to get you started. Facebook
Facebook is the largest social networking website in the United States and Europe. Its main features are that you can add your friends and stay in touch, as well as see a constant news stream about what’s going on with the people around you.
In many places in the world, “Facebook me” is a common phrase. Being on Facebook will allow you to stay in touch with people you may otherwise slip out of contact with. Twitter
Twitter specializes in fast, sound-bite sized 140 character messages called “tweets.” These can be anything from quick life updates to business tips. Twitter utilizes a “following” system, where you can “follow” other people to see their tweets and others can “follow” you to see yours. Blogging
Blogging allows just about anyone to publish a website quickly and easily. Through blogging, people who wouldn’t otherwise start a website can quickly become ranked in the search engines and publish their ideas to a lot of people. A blog is short for “Web Log,” a sort of online journal. Blogs tend to be updated more often than other websites. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals. You can upload your resume, work history, references, and testimonials as well as have professional relationships online.
In many industries, especially tech related industries, your LinkedIn profile can be as important if not more important than your physical resume. Digg & Reddit
Digg and Reddit are voting based news sites. Other users submit articles which are then voted on by the users. When you browse the front page, you’re presented with the highest rated articles. That means that your news is chosen by democracy and end users rather than by magazine editors. StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a unique social networking site that helps you randomly find websites that you might enjoy. It does it through a combination of the interests you provide as well as your previous habits. Here’s how it works: First, you install a browser toolbar. When you want to “StumbleUpon” a new site, just click the Stumble button and you’ll be taken to a random website that the system thinks you’ll like. Meetup.com
Meetup is another popular social networking website. With Meetup, however, most of the interaction happens in person rather than online. Meetup helps create physical meetings where people get together around various topics, from philosophy to dating to hiking. Taking Your First Steps in Social Networking
As you can tell, there are all kinds of different social networking sites out there. The best way to learn is to just pick one or two and get started. It’s a lot easier to learn than it looks! Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
We held out as long as we could. And it wasn’t very long. I read a statistic one time that said something like 95% of boys play video games. 95%! How do you compete with that? My wife and I have two boys so our chances of keeping video games out of the house were pretty much shot the second the X chromosome laid eyes on the Y chromosome across the crowded DNA strand. We were never into video games before the kids came along. My wife didn’t like them because…well she’s a girl. Sorry to generalize and sound sexist, but that 95% of boy gamers drops to about 25% for girls. And while I played a video game or two as a kid, I never really obsessed over them…probably because I have the hand/eye coordination of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. With the popularity of video games today we knew it was inevitable, but we wanted to keep them out of the house for a long as possible. Maybe until they’re, say, 10? Stop laughing. We may have been naïve but we really thought we had a shot. Then my 5 year old discovered Super Mario Bros at a friend’s house earlier this year and those Italian paisan won the war. (Italians won a war. There’s something you never hear.) He was hooked. When the time came, he quickly hopped on Santa’s lap and placed an order. Santa rolled his eyes, but realized resistance was futile. We decided to go with a Wii because the games are more active and get the kids up and moving. If they were going to play video games all day, they were going to work up a sweat while doing it. It sort of worked. One of the games we bought was Dance Party 3 which is a fun game in which you copy the moves of the dancers on screen. It’s a great workout and trust me when I say you’ve never seen anything more cute than a 5 and 2 year old dancing hip hop to “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas. Even their Mom and Dad danced a song or two although their Dad almost had a heart attack. My epitaph would have read “Death by The Pointer Sisters’ I’m So Excited” But the “keep them active” plan backfired as well because the Wii console comes with Super Mario Bros included for free…which requires no activity whatsoever. And my son’s favorite game? Yup. He’s a 5 year old junkie and that bastard Mario is his dealer. Completely addicted. He could play all day and would too if it weren’t for those pesky human functions like eating and sleeping. Notice I didn’t include “going to the bathroom” on that list. That’s because I constantly see him playing the game while hopping from foot to foot in a manic dance of “holding it in”. While I appreciate the fact that he is getting a little bit of exercise I have to yell at him,” Put that thing down and go to the bathroom now!” Every now and then I’m tempted to see what would happen if I didn’t say anything. The key word in that last sentence is “tempted”. I’m wrestling with the Bad Dad devil on my right shoulder that is telling me that my job could be so much easier if I just turned that damn thing on and let him play it as much as he wanted. A free babysitter for as long as I need. I could get stuff done around the house; I could run errands without the constant “Why are we here? When can we go home? Can I have this or that or that?” I could, dare I say, relax with a good book! Remember reading, parents?! Just as I crack open a book that doesn’t rhyme or have pictures though, the Good Dad devil on my left shoulder appears and ruins everything. He shows me the future and there’s my morbidly obese 25 year old son, sitting on his bedroom floor in a filthy t-shirt and shorts about to reach the highest level of Super Duper Mario Bros. 26. Strewn on the floor around him are half eaten bags of Cheetos and empty Red Bull cans. I recognize his bedroom because it’s still in my house!! This thought alone is enough to make me reach for the “off button”. So video games have infiltrated our home like termites. Now it’s up to me keep them from burrowing too far into my kids’ brains.
Definition of a “crazy” person: Someone who does the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Definition of a crazy parent: someone who does the same thing over and over again with their children, but doesn’t understand why there are NO results.
My definition of crazy “entertainment” is a TV show like Supernanny, which engages viewers by showing frustrated parents dealing with out of control children. But all ends well after Nanny Jo Frost swoops in, and by the time the credits roll, she has transformed the desperate parents’ bad habits that led the family to be “crazy” enough to even qualify for reality show casting.
But not everyone has access to a Reality Show superstar.
You just need the craziness to stop… because you may very well be close to losing your mind.
Enter Amy McCready
My friend Amy McCready is the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, Inc., and has been invited onto the Today show, Rachael Ray, MSNBC, CNN, etc., to share her tips on empowering both parents and children to change their bad behavior into positive behavior.
I’d been eagerly awaiting the publication of Amy’s book If I Have to Tell You One More Time…and now that I’ve read it, I can tell you that it’s everything it promised to be: a step-by-step guide on how to parent “without nagging, reminding or yelling”, (yep, I’m guilty of all three.) Amy’s book is an easy-to-read, easy-to-use “toolbox,” filled with ideas on how to avoid repeating the same mistakes that can turn you into a “crazy” parent.
Everything is covered here, from misunderstandings to meltdowns, and she not only presents new ideas but also offers new insights into methods that simply don’t work anymore. Amy makes a good case that the “Time-Out” for example, which has become hugely popular, isn’t as effective as we all think it is.
Amy’s approach is to avoid the “self-defense” mechanism that gets triggered in kids, which leads to defiance, arguments and the inevitable “power struggle” (which leads nowhere at all.)
Amy’s latest book focuses on the central idea that every human being has a basic need to feel powerful-with children being no exception to the rule. And when this need isn’t met in positive ways, kids will resort to negative methods, which often result in some of the most frustrating behavior they exhibit. If I Have to Tell You One More Time…provides the knowledge and tools parents need to address the deeper issues that inspire their children to misbehave.
Amy doesn’t just offer up the theory behind the method; she provides practical information, including:
23 proven tools with step-by-step instructions on how to use them, when to use them, and even the words to say.
Real-life examples of common misbehaviors, and how to address them
Quizzes to help parents discover their parenting style and unconscious habits
Answers to frequently asked questions from parents
Simple and concise, this revolutionary program will help you navigate the inevitable challenges that all parents encounter. Whether you’re dealing with a willful two-year-old or a power-seeking twelve-year-old, If I Have to Tell You One More Time… provides the tools that parents need in order to raise respectful, well-behaved, and well-adjusted children.
Read this book and rediscover the joy of parenting!
Ranking for area specific terms can be a big boost to your business. Many people don’t think local SEO makes a big difference, but this isn’t the case.
The good thing about it is that it’s usually quicker to rank for local terms. This is because you have so little competition. While there might be tons of sites going for the keyword “weight loss,” there are significantly less going for the term “Orlando weight loss.”
So how do you get ranked for local terms? Here are four tips to make it happen: #1) Use the keyword in your title and content
This is the most important factor in getting ranked. You should put the keyword at the beginning of your title, as well as in the content a few times. This lets Google know what the page is about. Therefore, it will make it more likely you will get ranked. #2) Use anchor text to your advantage
When you do get links to your site, make sure the anchor text (the actual link text) includes your main keyword phrase. Google looks closely at the anchor text to let them know what the site being linked to is about.
So if you have one hundred links pointing to your site, and seventy of them say “Houston condos”, they will be able to surmise what your page is about.
However, you don’t want to have every single link to say the same thing. Google likes natural link building. So if 100% of the links say “Houston condos, they will view this as unnatural, and this may affect you in a negative way. #3) Get links from quality sites
Every link is not created equal. Google puts more weight on the links from quality sites a lot more. Therefore, be sure to target legitimate sites for your link building efforts. #4) Geo-tags
This is not a new strategy, and it’s been around for a long time. However, many internet marketers aren’t familiar with it.
Basically, geo-tagging is where you put metadata in your HTML code. This lets the search engine spiders know where your site is located. You can do the same for pictures you put on your site. This will help you rank for localized searches.
The metadata includes your latitude and longitude coordinates, and sometimes other variables like altitude. If somebody is doing a search with geotagging enabled, your site might show up.
While geo-tagging does work, you can definitely rank without doing it. However, there’s no reason not to use it, as it definitely couldn’t hurt.
The bottom line is, getting ranked for local SEO terms is a great way to get more business. Implement these four tips and you should see results from your SEO efforts shortly. Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
What is local marketing, and why do smaller businesses need to engage in it? This means targeting people in your area.
Obviously many businesses can go after people around the country. However, others can only do business with local customers.
Restaurants and financial planners are prime examples of smaller companies that do business with only local people. There’s only so far people are going to drive to do business with you if you have a physical location.
However, if you have a business that lends itself to national customers, you can also target local customers separately. There are some people that would simply rather do business with local companies. Therefore, you might want to do some local advertising apart from your national efforts.
So how do you get more local customers? There are a number of ways that work. Here are four you can start with: #1) Newspaper advertising
This is one of the cheapest ways to target people in your area. When done right, it can be effective.
The problem with it is that it’s very untargeted. The majority of people reading the paper will not be interested in your product. However, if even a small percentage respond, it can be effective. #2) Yellow pages
This is another one of the “traditional methods” of local advertising. It’s been around a long time, and when done right it can again be effective. #3) Direct mail
This is hands down one of the top local advertising methods. This is where you buy a list of people in your area based on certain characteristics. You can choose based on age, gender, income level, etc. then you would send out an advertising campaign to them.
This way, you can choose exactly who you want to focus on. Therefore, it’s more targeted than the previous two. #4) Internet
Online advertising is another effective strategy to get local customers.
So how do you convert traffic into sales? Now that you know how to drive traffic to your offer, you have to focus on making sales.
Get their contact information.
This should be your main goal, so you can keep marketing to them. The average customer requires at least four to seven touches before they do business with you. Therefore, if you give up after the first contact you are probably missing out on the majority of your sales.
Track each advertising source separately.
You might want to track each advertising method, so you can tell what’s working and what isn’t. For this reason, you might want to send the traffic from each source to a different place so you can tell what’s working and what isn’t.
The bottom line is, local advertising can be effective when done right. Implement these tips, and you will get your marketing efforts on track. Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
If you are like so many small business owners you may feel too emotionally close to your product to adequately sell it yourself. Selling ice to an eskimo is easy, but selling something you have created on your own may cause a hive break out- and here is why: Objections on your own products will feel more like a personal rejection than ever before… but it doesn’t have to.
Be a Solution Seller
If you want complete and total freedom, learning to sell graciously is the best skill you could ever posses. Solution Selling is about helping someone who knows less than you do come to a decision that they are not able to make on their own. It is also about receiving money, and money is a good thing because it helps you to give back to yourself, your business and your prospective clients.
But not everyone is going to be a candidate for your product.
This is KEY.
Gone are the days that you do an actual sales pitch. No more ALWAYS BE CLOSING. It’s more like… ALWAYS BE PRE-QUALIFYING. In fact, you should be spending MOST of your time asking questions to a lead, and finding out what their needs are, or even if they have any at all. This is the process that will help you determine if you should spend some more time on this candidate, or if your time is better utilized elsewhere.
Practice is all it takes, and the more you do it the more you will discover your natural ability to help others learn what makes you an expert about your products and services.
Is it me? When did little kids get such big attitudes? Look I love my five year old son, but sometimes the mouth on this kid makes Damien from the Omen look like Opie from the Andy Griffith Show. He fights me on everything. He talks back. He disobeys. He throws tantrums. I would blame it on my less than adequate parental techniques and I do tend to be inconsistent with my behavioral therapy and discipline at times, but I know it’s not just my kid. Apparently my niece has got a little mean streak when it comes to talking to her parents. And I’ve heard stories from other parents too. Is it the TV shows they’re watching? Has Sesame Street turned a dark corner? “Guess what Elmo’s thinking about today? YA TA DA DAA! Elmo’s been thinking about…manipulation tactics” I don’t know. Should I calm down? I mean is it a side effect of society today? Our children are exposed to more media with computers, the internet, and more shows on more channels so maybe that’s having more of an influence on their behavior. They’re growing up much faster now. Too fast. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to my 5 year old, “I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS DURING YOUR TEENAGE YEARS! I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS NOW!” Of course he just stares at me…and then sort of giggles maliciously. Sends shivers down my spine. Another problem is that his little protégé, my two year old, is starting to copy big brother, his hero, the way he always has. An angry frown and a “No, DADDY!” is a lot cuter coming from a 2 year old than a 5 year old…but he’ll get older. I’ve gotta nip that in the bud.
I know I sound like Old Man Loprete a la “what’s with these kids today?!”, but when I was the age of a kindergartener I wouldn’t DREAM of talking to my parents the way my kid talks to me. Now granted my father was 6’ 3” so a five year old talking back to him was somewhat frowned upon. Hell, a 40 year old talking back to him is somewhat frowned upon. My problem is that I’m 5’7” and my Amazon kid is already half my size. He’ll be taller than me by the 5th grade. Then I’m really sunk. I can just picture this conversation when he’s in high school.
Me (looking up at my 6’5” 17 year old): Son, you’re grounded.
Him (grabbing my hands and slapping my face with them): “Why you hitting yourself, Dad? Why you hitting yourself?
Okay now listen. My son is not Linda Blair from The Exorcist. He’s a wonderful, smart, funny, and mostly well behaved kid. We have a beautiful close relationship. No neglectful father Harry Chapin songs (Cat’s In The Cradle) or Springsteen-esque dysfunctional father/son stories (any Springsteen concert) here. If you watch Modern Family (and you should) the character of Phil Dunphy has a misguided parental approach called “peerenting”. Maybe that’s my problem. At times I think my son sees me more as a friend than a father. Not fair. I love teaching, playing, and spending time with my son…I just wish he would shut up and do what I tell him. I mean I waited a long time for this. Don’t you remember when your parents said “When you’re a parent you can tell your kids what to do.”? Come on, people! We’ve earned this! Let’s take back control! Occupy Our Kids!!!
It is that time of year gain. We just had Halloween. Now, the holiday season is in full swing!
In these challenging times, we want to offer you a place to advertise your holiday products and services where you can get an inexpensive yet high visibility ad. That place is the Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog.
Please note that although we have had a substantial increase in our subscriber base this year, we have decided not to increase the ad prices. As always, we are committed to offering you affordable promotion at the best possible value.
The Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog will be advertised heavily online and via our weekly radio show: This Little Parent Stayed Home. It will also go out to all of our Facebook and Twitter followers.
The Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog will be emailed out three times! Once on November 21st, once on November 28th and again on December 5th. In addition to that, the ads will also be posted on the Our Milk Money site for 1 1/2 months for all to see!
The staff of Our Milk Money has been challenged to do their holiday shopping with the Parents of Our Milk Money. We are extending the same challenge to you…let us all support each other this year by doing our holiday shopping with each other.
If our staff needs ideas on what to purchase for the holidays. we bet our subscribers do too! This is where we need YOUR help! Be the expert on your products and tell us what we should be purchasing from you. When you send us information for your ad, be product specific. The ad opportunities:
Top Banner Ad: Only 1 available! This spot will consist of a 468 x 60 banner along with up to 300 characters of text.
Bottom Banner Ad: Only 1 available! This spot will consist of a 468 x 60 banner along with up to 300 characters of text.
Middle Button Ads: Unlimited spots available! These spots will consist of 125 x 125 buttons with up to 100 characters of text.
What we need from you:
In years past, the most successful ads have been those that included a call to action so we recommend your ad promote a specific product or service or offer a significant discount to Our Milk Money supporters.
Email address where we can send you a paypal invoice
Best: URL to a button or banner; if you don’t have one we will need a jpeg button or banner
A product title and description
Include price and any discount you may be offering
Link to purchasing information for your product(s)
Meet Elysse Fleece. She is a military wife and a mom to her Little Monster as he is called. She started Kozzy Bottoms from a love of cloth diapering and her passion for crafts. Its been a great way to keep the family together and it’s soothing for her. She has always loved to craft and to be able to do this for others is amazing. She never would have thought this would be her!
Recent Comments