(323) 863-3603 admin@ourmilkmoney.org
Meet Shannon Wilburn!

Meet Shannon Wilburn!

Shannon Wilburn is the President and Co-Founder of Just Between Friends Franchise System, Inc.

Just Between Friends, the Nation’s Leading children’s and Maternity Consignment event was founded in 1997 by two moms, Shannon Wilburn and Daven Tackett in a living room in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 2003, they formed Just Between Friends Franchise Systems, Inc. and began selling franchises.  There are 109 franchises in 21 states. They have received national attention on CNN, Headline News, ABC News, Good Morning America, Inside Edition and CNBC’s The Big Idea. They have also been featured in The Wall Street Journal Online, Inc. Magazine, The Seattle Times, Sacramento Bee, LA Times, Daily Oklahoman and broadcast outlets in dozens of cities across the country including Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle.

Please tell us about your business and the service that you provide:

JBF serves families in local communities by helping them save 50-90% off of retail on children’s and maternity items.  Families can also sell their items and make 65-70%.  Each franchise benefits, in part a local non-profit.

What motivated you to start your business?

We both had young children and were on a budget.  There was a need and we found a way to fill it.  We did not know that it would become a national company.  We literally just wanted to save money on our children’s items.  Tulsa really embraced the concept.  When it was succeeding in Tulsa, others wanted to start it in their communities…and that is how the franchise system was born.

What kind of background or expertise do you have in your field?

I had sales experience, and had grown up on a budget.  However, I did not have an ounce of business experience.  In fact, my degree is Elementary Education.

What trends do you see in your current industry?

With the current economy, families are having to be creative in trying to find ways to save money.  This is just a smart way for them to do just that.

What are the most demanding aspects about your business?

Time commitment.

What are the most rewarding aspects about your business?

We love helping families. I tell people all the time that this is a “feel good business”. You don’t have to “sell” JBF because it sells itself.  Everyone understands saving money and making money.  It’s a win win win.

What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a business like yours?

Probably that it takes a lot of work.  We tell applicants looking to purchase a franchise that we make it look easy, but that it takes time, effort and commitment to be in it for a while before you see some great ROI.

What are you most proud of as a parent-preneur?

The example that I am setting for my kids.

How have you been able to balance your time between work and your family?

Is there such a thing?  I don’t understand balance very well.  My hubby has to help me see that sometimes.  My kids are in high school and are very patient with my time in front of the computer.  They also get to help me when I need help with business stuff.   We like to vacation as a family so I count that as quality time…

What has been the most effective way for you to promote and market yourself?

I use social media quite a bit.  I also do a tiny bit of blogging. I wish that I had the talent to just sit down and write something out quickly, but it takes me forever to put my thoughts together.  It is not a talent that I possess.

Finally: What does your “Milk Money” provide for you and your family?

The opportunity to bless others.

From OMM:  Find Shannon on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Goals for Your Business

Goals for Your Business

Every successful business owner has a set of goals for their business. For those running a home-based business while also caring for children, a house, pets, and fending off the neighborhood gossip all at the same time, goal setting is vital to just getting through the day.
Whether you realize it or not, chances are you have at least a few goals. After all, supper is usually ready at some point before bedtime, and the kids actually DO get to bed eventually, right? See…you have and accomplish goals!
The goals we set as home-based business owners often are intermixed with the goals of our daily routines. My daily list of goals often looks something like:
·    Speak to client
·    Get started on marketing piece
·    Do 3 loads of laundry
·    Write a blog post
·    Go grocery shopping
·    Finish the proof of the marketing piece
·    Sort through outgrown clothes and bag them up to donate
Not your normal list of business goals but it is what I need to do in order to have an income stream and still meet the daily needs of my family.
If you aren’t writing goals, you should begin today. I find that when I have too much on my plate and I’m starting to feel extra stressed, that writing down my list of daily goals often brings a sense of control over it all.
Here is how to get started:
First, start with a goal to accomplish by the end of the year. Whether it is to earn $X in profit, or to take on 3 new clients, or to finish getting all or your marketingmaterials in order, that is your goal for the next 2 months!
Now, look at your list and decide on some small goals within each larger one. What do you need to have finished by December 15? What about December 1? And so on. Meeting each one of these smaller goals will help you meet the big goal on time.
Now, look at the next small goal you wrote down. Let’s say it’s to get your website in place by the end of November. This is going to require even more mini goals to accomplish that task. You will need to start with the basics. If you don’t have a website name and hosting in place yet, then that should be today’s goal.
Plan out all the steps you will take to meet your goal and then put them on a timeline. Your timeline needs to be flexible, because you may have days where you just can’t get to more than one item and other days when you find time to accomplish several.
If you aren’t sure what steps are needed to meet your goal, I suggest you search for it and see if you can find a list that someone else has developed. And then incorporate that list into your daily goals.
Each morning, or each night before you stop work, plan what you are going to accomplish on that day. Remember, stay flexible and just move items to tomorrow if something comes up and you can’t get to it today. Just don’t turn that into too much of a habit or you’ll find that the deadline comes and you haven’t even gotten started!
When the New Year swings around you should set your goal for all of 2012, and then break it down into quarterly and monthly goals. It’s not a bad idea to start thinking about those now while you work on your goals for the end of 2011.
Kim Scott is a work-at-home mom to 5 boys, including 4 teenagers and 1 preschooler. She is the owner of VaVaVoomph, a small business providing graphic and web design, marketing and social media services, and virtual assistance to other small business owners. Kim holds a bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg (KS) State University in Graphic Design and Printing Management. Since she almost always has her hair thrown up in a sloppy ponytail, she has labeled herself “The PonyTailed Professional” and blogs under that banner as well.

Facebook for the Small Business Owner

Facebook for the Small Business Owner

Large, global brands seem to be the most noticeable businesses on Facebook, but that is changing. In fact, it has already changed somewhat. There was a time when you could forget about trying to find your local business’s Facebook page, but more and more small businesses are turning to Facebook to market their products. Maybe you would like to promote your small business via Facebook. Here are some tips that may help.
1. Separate professional from personal
Your clients don’t need to see the latest pictures of your pets, or hear about your latest haircut. Keep your personal information on your personal profile, and establish a separate page for your business. If you like, you can hire someone else to be a sort of proxy for you who can represent your brand. This might be helpful if you already have a significant personal presence on Facebook.
However, you might also use your personal networking to your advantage. When you set up your business page, you can incorporate those friends who share your interests into your target market. Still, your personal profile and business pages should be separate.
2. Your page name
This is important, because you can’t change it later. You will have to shut down your page and build a new one, and that can mess with your client base. So consider key words when you develop your page name, and make it a good one. Put lots of thought into it.
3. Your landing page
This is like the “home page” of a website. It needs to have a compelling image and good information right off the bat so that visitors will be inspired to click the “Like” or “Become a Fan” buttons. You can use something called FBML, which stands for Facebook Markup Language, to create a unique and interesting landing page.
4. Tabs
You can also use FBML to create tabs, which are visible buttons on your page that represent applications, or apps. Twitter, Networked Blogs, Events, and Inbox are just some of the apps you can put on your business page. These really help promote your business as they give visitors and fans a chance to interact and connect with you and your business.
5. The value of personal communication
One of the appealing things about Facebook is the personal interaction it encourages. In a world of automation, customers appreciate a “live human” at the other end of the keyboard, mobile device, or computer screen! The telephone used to provide this, but with more and more businesses resorting to automated customer service, Facebook gives your business an edge. So try to communicate with your fans and followers regularly, and on an individual basis as often as possible. Happy fans then tell their friends.
If your business grows to the point that you can’t handle all the individual contact, consider outsourcing this to someone else who is closely associated with your business.
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.

Tips on Creating an Effective Facebook Profile

Tips on Creating an Effective Facebook Profile

If you’re thinking of sharing your business via Facebook, creating an effective profile is important. It’s easy to go into Facebook and set up a profile that doesn’t do much to reflect what you’re about. So here are some tips for Facebook beginners.
1. Be careful
It’s wise to exercise care when you set up your business profile. You may or may not already be on Facebook to socialize, but it’s a good idea to keep your business Facebook page separate. It’s also a good idea to limit who reads your status updates so that your personal news does not conflict with your professional news.
You can use Facebook’s privacy settings to control who sees your updates. And remember, privacy settings aren’t perfect; some cross-over is possible, so take care what you post. Some things you don’t need to share!
2. Your name
Most business people suggest using your real, full name in your profile – another good reason to pay attention to privacy settings. But you’re a business, so you want your name out there. Using your real name makes it a lot easier for people to get hold of you.
3. Your avatar
You will need to choose an avatar. Some successful business people suggest using a professional picture of yourself, but it’s entirely possible to get a good photo with your home camera. Let your “look” reflect the mood of your business (you don’t want to be pictured in overalls, for example, if your business is a professional marketer; but overalls would be an excellent look for a gardening business). If you have some photo software on your computer, you can adjust the background and so forth to construct a good avatar.
You can also use your business logo as your avatar. Various sources disagree as to which is the most effective from a business perspective, so ultimately it’s up to you and what you’re comfortable with. Consider your avatar’s look and colors, and see if it makes an effective avatar or not.
4. Think like a client
If you were a prospective client of your business, what would you like to see on a profile? Be thorough and truthful, but keep your prospects in mind. There are some things your clients don’t need to know, and other things they should know – remember, this is a business profile. Include those aspects of yourself that coincide with your business intent.
Something else to consider are online resources such as free printed guides and tutorials.
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.

Advertising on Facebook

Advertising on Facebook

There is more to Facebook than friends and contacts! Advertising with Facebook is an up-and-coming way to enhance your business. If you’d like to consider advertising with Facebook, here are some tips on how to make it work for you.
1. Determine your demographic
Known variously as your “target market,” “target audience,” “demographic,” and so forth, determining just who it is you’re selling to is a step that shouldn’t be skipped. Facebook actually offers tools for you to research your demographics’ Facebook presence – find out the groups, events, and individual profiles that are relevant to your business.
2. Build your own business community
Facebook is about making connections. Building communities via Facebook is a good way to conglomerate members of your demographic and find new ones. For example, your clients and fans may join one of your groups and invite their friends to join as well. Keep it interesting and lively by holding discussions, virtual events, providing exciting information, and so forth.
Another note on community building – remember that this is a feature at the heart of Facebook, so direct sales ads tend not to do as well. The majority of Facebook users are on the site because they want to form relationships, not necessarily because they want to buy something.
3. Facebook resources
Facebook offers guidelines and tools for advertising. Check out www.facebook.com/FacebookAds for details on how Facebook recommends you advertise through them. You can develop your ad through a tool offered at www.facebook.com/advertising, too. You can just begin with an image and a brief tagline or description. Your ad will appear on the right side of those Facebook pages you have targeted.
4. Key words
It’s a good idea to learn to integrate key words into your ads. These are words that are gleaned from people’s profile information, and you can use these key words in your ad to customize it to a particular demographic. In fact, what you find in people’s profiles is key to filtering out who is in your target market and who is not.
5. Set a budget
Setting a budget will help prevent you from experimenting with a lot of different ad techniques, thereby wasting money and time. Your advertising campaign should have a definite budget limit, and your goals need to be clearly defined alongside it. In other words, you need to know just what it is you expect for your advertising dollar.
6. Look at the ads of others
Consider doing some research – click on the ads you see on your Facebook page, and see what they are up to. What kind of ads seem effective? Which ones have an approach that appeals to you? Which ads keep appearing over and over, indicating they have something that’s working for them?
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.

Cost Effective Ways of Increasing Traffic to Your Website

Cost Effective Ways of Increasing Traffic to Your Website

An online business thrives and survives based on their traffic. The more traffic you have, the more potential customers you have. And the more customers you have…Yep! The more profits you’ll earn. However, you don’t always want to have to spend an arm and a leg to gain traffic. Here are seven cost-effective ways to increase traffic to your website.
#1 Social networking – Social networking is free. It costs time and energy; however, there’s little else to do on a social networking site except interact. And that’s how you drive traffic. Whether you’re using a Facebook fan page, a Twitter page, LinkedIn or another social networking site, the key is interaction. Create a compelling profile. Interact, share and comment. Then when it’s appropriate, post links to your website and website content. You will drive traffic to your site.
#2 Comment on industry blogs – You’d be surprised to find out how much traffic a blog comment can generate. Subscribe to industry blogs. When appropriate and relevant, comment on new blog posts. Be sure to register with the site and to include a link to your website. Fellow commenters are sure to visit your website, as are other blog readers. It’s a great way to drive traffic. Of course, make sure your comments represent you and your business effectively.
#3 Publish – Publishing is still one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. Publish on article directories. Publish on other people’s websites. Publish in print and online magazines. And syndicate your website content – this will help it get published all over the web. Each time someone reads something you’ve published, they’ll visit your website.
#4 Blog – Blogging is similar to publishing. However, in addition to posting to your own blog, try to become a guest blogger. Write posts for other relevant blogs. And be sure to link to your website in your profile or author’s resource box.
#5 Giveaways – While the above four tactics are free, giveaways aren’t. You can give away free content like a downloadable report or online course. You can also give away something that’ll generate a lot of attention, like a Kindle or an iPad. Make sure, however, that your giveaway is related to your niche. When you’re giving something away, be sure to promote it. Spread the word on social networking sites. Blog about it. Ask others to share the link.
#6 PPC/CPM – Advertising is not free either. However, if you handle a campaign strategically it can be very cost effective. If you’re using this tactic to drive traffic, make sure you’re sending visitors to a specific page. For example, send them to a sales page or an opt-in page. This way you can track results and keep a tight hold on your budget.
#7 Affiliates – Starting an affiliate program can take time, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Affiliates can send traffic your direction. You only pay when their traffic results in a conversion. It’s extremely cost effective.
Generating traffic doesn’t have to be expensive. Before you implement any new tactic, create goals and a plan to achieve them. Test and track for success. Repeat any and all successes.
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.

Essential Tips for a Successful Facebook Marketing Campaign

Essential Tips for a Successful Facebook Marketing Campaign

Facebook offers a number of business-building benefits. One of the primary benefits Facebook offers is the ability to market your business. You can use Facebook to drive traffic, build awareness and attract attention for a launch. Here are three essential tips for a successful Facebook marketing campaign.
#1 Build a following
Facebook is a social networking site. The best way to build a great marketing campaign is to build a great following. This is accomplished by:
* Interacting with people on Facebook and bringing them into your community. Invite people to friend you or become Fans
* Supporting your prospects through comments, sharing and linking to their sites and informative content
* Offering tremendous value through posts, links and valuable information. You can link to your website and blog posts. Motivate a click by creating a compelling headline and teaser for your post.
#2 Engage and interact
Marketing on Facebook is only effective if your friends and followers feel they can trust you. You earn their trust by engaging with them. They’ll learn to like you and believe in your brand promise if you:
* Provide valuable information on a consistent basis. For example, create a daily tip and post it on your profile or Facebook Fan page.
* Post offers and promotions they can benefit from. For example, you can create a one-time promotion for Facebook Fans only.
* Occasionally entertain. Entertaining can be through sharing stories, videos, links and photos.
#3 Integrate effectively
One of the keys to any successful marketing campaign is integration with your other marketing strategies. When you integrate your Facebook marketing tactics with your other tactics, you’ll receive the best results possible.
For example, you can add a Facebook feed to your website or blog. You can add a “post this on Facebook” feature. You can add a “find me on Facebook” button or call to action to your email signature.
And with many other social networking sites you can integrate your efforts. For example, if you have a Facebook Fan page you can also link it to your Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn page. You can combine your Twitter and Facebook posts for double coverage.
Facebook can help you build awareness. It can create a community, motivate a purchase and launch a new product or service. Identify your purpose for using Facebook as a marketing tactic. Create goals and embrace these essential tips for Facebook marketing success.
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.

Good Online Business Practices Equals More Customers

Good Online Business Practices Equals More Customers

Every online and offline business operates through a series of practices. Practices are essentially systems you’ve established to accomplish something for your business. For example, when someone sends you an email inquiring about your products or services, what you do with that email is considered a practice.
How you communicate your practice is considered a policy. Many businesses publish a number of their policies. For example, a return policy or a privacy policy. When you maintain good online business practices and policies, you retain customers.
There are essentially five criteria a policy or practice is evaluated by. It must be:
* Fair and reasonable – Additionally, if you state a policy or a practice you must follow through on it. For example, if you say a client can return a product within thirty days, you must honor that agreement.
* Communicated clearly – Your practices don’t all need to be published on your website. However, they should be communicated clearly when it’s a relevant time to do so. For example, during your shopping cart procedure a customer should be made aware of your return policy. They should also be made aware of your return policy when you thank them for their order and/or when you ship or deliver the product.
* Effective – Your practices should help you accomplish your goals. They should also support and enhance your customers’ overall experience with your company.
* Transparent – Your policies and practices need to be clear and easy for your customers and prospects to find and understand.
* Legal – They need to be legal so you and your customers are protected under the law.
One of the most common practices is your data collection practice and subsequent privacy policy. People want to know how you collect their information and how you protect their privacy. When you make this information readily available on your website and it’s communicated clearly, it’s fair and reasonable and you follow through, you’ll keep customers. It strengthens your relationship with them.
Business Practices Offer Business Benefits
Each practice you create and put into action becomes become part of your business. When your business practices support both you and your customer, your business will run efficiently and effectively. When you miss something along the way, you risk losing customers.
Good business practices support you to:
* Communicate effectively
* Motivate loyalty
* Enhance word of mouth
* Spur positive reviews and feedback
* Generate testimonials
* Operate efficiently
* Profit consistently
Take the time to review your business practices. Do they support your customer to have a fantastic experience? Do they support your success? Are they fair, legal, communicated effectively and honored? When you respect your customer through your business practices, they’ll return again and again. It’s one of the best ways to establish long-term success through customer loyalty.
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.