I love coffee. Strong, hot and black, it is just the way to start off my day . . . and keep me trudging through it after a sleepless night with a sick baby. But you can only down so many cups before you start to get heartburn or worse.
I just came across this great article over on Entrepreneur.com that talks about three entrepreneurs who have come up with alternatives to drinking a dozen cups of coffee a day. As an avid caffeine addict, I´d be willing to try other methods of feeding my addiction that weren´t so bad for my kidneys!
So, apparently there are sunflower seeds infused with caffeine, a caffeinated lip balm and even caffeine-stuffed donuts! The main problem I see with these is that they don´t have them down here in Guatemala, so I may never get to try one.
However, this does give rise to the thought that you can actually turn your addiction into a business. For example, each of the creators of the above products downs an astounding amount of coffee and caffeine related products each day, something that obviously helped inspire them to create their own products. They followed their passion and are now successful!
While the business owners in the article aren´t moms and don´t work at home, I think we can learn a valuable lesson about following what we are passionate about in order to earn money. Just a thought.
As a child, I traveled frequently with my father on his business trips. As a work at home mom, you may not do a lot of traveling, but some businesses will require it. When you have to take your children on the road with you, it´s a good idea to keep things fun and have everyone occupied. Here are a few ideas on how to make business travel with kids easier for everyone.
Bring music. There´s nothing better than a good old car sing along. Bring music that everyone enjoys and that won´t drive you nuts if you have to listen to it a few dozen times! You might want to pick up a copy of All-American Car-I-Oke before your next trip, it´s a lot of fun!
Make a surprise box. My mother was an expert at finding fun little toys to surprise us with during our trips. Right when we were about to start tearing each other apart, she´d pull out a fun shaped notepad, a mini Etch-a-Sketch or some other fun little toy and we´d turn our attention to that for a while. The surprises don´t have to be expensive, you can find plenty of fun things at the dollar store. The trick is not to bring them out too often and never let the kids see them ahead of time.
Get some audio books. These can be a great way to enjoy some literature together while you are busy driving. Kids love books on tape! I would suggest The Chronicles of Narnia or The Velveteen Rabbit, both of which are great for kids and adults alike.
Play car games. There are plenty of fun car games for kids, I´ve played a few in the past! In fact, I just started a new website based on the car games for kids that I played as a small child when we were on long business trips.
Plan extra time for sights. Stop along the way and see interesting sites. That doesn´t mean you have to go past the Grand Canyon. There are plenty of other interesting things. In our travels, we stopped in the middle of nowhere to admire a large tree or a patch of wild lilies. And sometimes there were weird things like a dinosaur footprint with a little booth selling souviniers, or a Troll museum. All this is great fun for a kid, it doesn´t necessarily have to be some incredible tourist attraction.
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Whether you are in the planning stages of business or have already been at this for a decade, you need to know who your clients are and what they are looking for. Identifying the demographic your services and products appeal to will help you pin point your advertising and help your business become even more effective.
Let´s say you make hand-embroidered bags to sell. Are you aiming for young women, older women, mothers, or gay men? You can sell to all of these, but it will be easier if you separate your clients into groups that you can target.
In our example, you decide to make your hand-embroidered bags for young mothers who want to stay hip and modern. But, a mother with small children may not actually buy an expensive bag with elegant embroidery, since her children will probably wreck it. So, if this is your target market, how can you make the product more mother-friendly?
A few ideas:
- Add a protective seal to the outside of the bag to help prevent stains.
- Offer washer/dryer friendly versions.
- Make the liner waterproof so she can carry a bottle.
As you can see, these would most appeal to a group of mothers. The designs you create will often be more desirable to one group than another, as well.
Your promotions will be more effective if targeted as well. A flyer for your bags at a daycare, along with a description of family-friendly products, will get more mothers than a generic ad. People like to think that you are thinking about them and will tend to buy more if you aim directly for them as a demographic. That doesn´t mean you only need to aim at one group, though. There is nothing wrong with selling bags to young mothers as well as teen girls, just target each separately.
So, why not take a minute today to stop and think about your clients? Even if you´ve been in the business for a while, it´s a good idea to reevaluate from time to time. Then take a look at how your products and advertising can be tailored to pin point the groups you are aiming for.
In some areas, kids are already back to school, and in others, they will be shortly. Which leaves only babies, toddlers and preschoolers to contend with while you attempt to work (congrats to those of you who are now past this milestone!). Rainy days can be a real challenge, since little ones are cooped up inside with you and it´s hard to keep them busy. Here in Guatemala, it´s the rainy season and I´ve been forced to search out new activities for my two boys.
To help you stay sane on days that kids can´t get outside, here are a few ideas:
BABIES
Tactile Play. Try giving babies as young as 3 months a variety of different cloth to touch and examine. You can just use clothes, like your husband´s soccer shorts, a flannel sleeper, a wool jersey, etc. After about five minutes (or when the baby is bored), take away the first item and give him another.
Batting Games. Try hanging a toy above your baby´s bouncy chair. Use light toys so they won´t hurt him if they fall down for some reason and suspend from the ceiling with a string. Babies love to bat at things hanging in front of them. If you have a chair with a toybar that your baby is tired of, try tying new toys onto it.
TODDLERS
Clothespin Sorting. Buy a packet of those cheap plastic clothespins that come in assorted colors and let your toddler play with them. Show him how to clip them onto clothing and sort them into containers by color. You can also have him drop them into egg carton compartments. Older children will be able to make clothespin sculptures by clipping them to each other.
Floor Scribbling. Get a big piece of poster paper and tape it to the floor. Get out crayons or colored pencils, whatever your child likes to use and just dump them in the middle of the paper. Your kids can scribble all over the place and it is easier for toddlers who have difficulties holding a piece of paper down while coloring.
Rice Bin. Kind of like an indoor sandbox. Pour about 10 lbs of rice into a baby tub or large, plastic box and let your kids play in it with spoons and cups. Make sure this is done on a hard floor so you can just sweep it up afterwards. I would suggest sweeping or mopping beforehand, as well, to limit the amount of debris added to the rice when you pour it back into the box.
Paper Tearing. Kids love to rip things up and if you need some time to yourself, this can be a great way to keep them busy. Get out a bunch of old newspapers and let them just rip them up. It´s a good idea to specify a place to do this, though so you don´t have bits of paper all over the house.
PRESCHOOLERS
Road Map. Similar to the Floor Scribble above. Tape down a huge piece of poster paper and let your kids go hog wild drawing roads and towns. Then they can drive their cars over the roads. Girls might prefer to walk their dolls along paths, but really, this is a totally flexible activity.
Washing Dishes. If you work in the kitchen, this can be a great way to keep preschoolers occupied. Set up a chair by the sink and add a few inches of water to the sink. Put in a bit of soap and let your child wash his or her plastic dishes. Yes, things will get wet, but you can get up to an hour of peace out of this one!
Paper Food. Get out those crayons and let your child whip up an entire menu of fantastic foods. Have them draw the food they want and you can cut it out quickly, then they cook and serve food to their stuffies on their own plastic dishes. Sounds weird, but kids really do like it!
Got any more fun activities for kids? Please feel free to share!
Nearly every home business can benefit from a digital camera. If you have products to offer, you will need photos to put up on your website, obviously, but what are some of the other benefits?
- Having a picture of yourself on your brochures, catalogs and website is always a good idea. It gives a more personable feel to your business. If you are promoting your business online, it´s a good idea to have a profile picture to lend you more credibility. A cute avatar doesn´t always present the most professional side of you, but a clear photo can.
- You can quickly share concept photos with clients, via email and chat. This can be extremely handy, depending on your business. For example, I know a mom who is a painter and she sends photos of the finished work to clients to get their approval before sending the paintings, saving time and money if the picture isn´t quite what the client was looking for.
- Add customized images to your stationary, logo and/or website to give it a professional look. Digital cameras make it easy to get some great photos and you can create a one of a kind logo or ad by taking your own pictures instead of using stock photos.
- Grab a quick shot of something you need to remember. This varies according to business, for example, if you are a seamstress, you might take a picture of the blouse a client likes and would like to replicate.
- Build a portfolio. Take pictures of all your work, if you have physical products. Do you make candles? Take shots of the new designs and styles you come up with and include them in your portfolio. If you offer a service, get photos of clients and events to use in your portfolio.
- Keep a business history by taking photos of every major milestone in your business, your first product, first shipment, etc. Put everything into a photo album with a note underneath the photo, describing the moment. This can be invaluable on days when you feel that you aren´t advancing at all!
As for deciding which digital camera you want, that will depend entirely on what you need to accomplish, but the Kodak EasyShare C533 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
Digital cameras aren´t just for snapping shots of your kids, although they are great for that, too. They can be a very valuable asset to your company, as well.
