Learn everything you need to know about being in it, to win it. Join us for a 45-minute FREE Teleseminar with both Traci Bisson, Lucinda Cross and contest judges Andrew Morrison and Stacey Kannenberg.

WHAT: What is the Business Baby Shower Contest Teleseminar? 
HOSTED BY: Lucinda Cross and Traci Bisson 
WHEN: March 30, 2010, 1:30pm EST
REGISTER: To register, click here…>

Most of us follow the same business path everyone else does. We end up trying to do it all by ourselves, and many times we hold ourselves back from completing tasks, following through and following up.  The focus of your business and idea begins to seem more like a chore than an actual pleasure. The Business Baby Shower Contest will assist three winners in breaking free from the everyday struggles of starting or growing a business. 

During this call, Traci and Lucinda, creators of the Business Baby Shower Contest will be joined by contest judges Andrew Morrison of Small Business Camp and Stacey Kannenberg of Cedar Valley Publishing to discuss the details of the contest.

During this special teleseminar you will:

• learn tips for creating your video submission
• learn about the essay submission process, deadline, etc.
• learn about the donated prizes and media coverage
• hear more information about the judging process
• discover how the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be chosen
• have the opportunity to get your questions about the contest answered

To register, click here…>

A good way to increase profits, reduce risk and broaden your market is by joining forces with a competitor. Maybe not all the time but a project or two may be a good way for both of you to grow your businesses and to see if a long-term association is worthwhile. If you have multiple businesses, the joint venture may be just one of those businesses, and the others you continue to run on your own. For instance, if you’re both life coaches, you can offer more seminars in more places for mutual benefit. A shared company name will also help to brand your services.

However, be careful. Make sure the venture is on an equal footing. It’s probably a good idea to get a legal agreement that clarifies exactly what is shared and who is boss, things like that. A legal document gives you the way in and the way out, if you need to end the venture.

It’s imperative that there’s a business plan for the venture. The plan should detail what the goals are and how you’re going to reach them together. You can’t be working at cross purposes if you want to succeed.

Of course, the most important factor in a joint venture is trust. Without mutual trust and openness what could have been a successful venture (the usual result of a joint venture is success) will fall flat on its face. PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS FOR SUCCESS.

Too many mompreneurs hold a pistol to their heads and give the revolver a good spin when trying to get their businesses started and keep them going. They have what I call shiny object syndrome. Any little thing can pull them away from business job one, starting their entrepreneurial life and making sure it brings in the income and keeps the customer satisfied. Getting distracted will surely harm the business.

Trying to balance family, the most important people in your life, and a business isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes drive and desire and focus and plans. If you feel in your deepest soul and in your head that you must have your own business, then go for it. But don’t go off in every direction at once. Make a business plan and make sure you build in the right amount of work time but also children time and significant partner time. Remember you left the rat race because you didn’t have enough time for the people who make your life worthwhile.

Don’t get sidetracked from your goal. If the home phone rings during business time, don’t pick up even if it’s your best friend. It’s business time now, and you can call her during non-business hours. That’s what answering machines (and even all the gizmos on cellphones) are for. Just because you work at home doesn’t mean you’re available to everyone, and that includes the older kids. Of course, if your son just fell out of a tree (which they seem to do with regularity, well, yeah, you have to take him to the hospital). Otherwise, you’re at work; don’t lose your focus and stay directed.

Keep your eyes on the prize, sign up for the contest TODAY so that

you can get the support you need to stay on TRACK.

Google Alerts is ‘email updates’ of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. It distills the results from the first 20 pages of its search engine results and sends you the alert. The most important aspect of being on the web is your online reputation. Making sure that the information regarding yourself and your business is representing you in a Good and True manner. This is one way that you can monitor your online reputation.

As a business owner whose specialty is marketing, Google Alerts is a tool that I cannot live without. I get to find out about my clients and their competition, see if anyone is plagiarizing their content, and see who is searching for them. Google Alerts is the ultimate internet spy.

Here are some ways I use the service to save me lots of time and energy marketing in the wrong places.

Google Alerts allows you to take a keyword phrase (for example, your name or company name) and receive a notification each time Google finds a new page using that phrase. My Google Alerts has my name “Lucinda Cross” and my company name “Corporate Mom Dropouts”, amongst other words and phrases that are in my industry that I use by doing a keyword search (www.freekeywordtracker.com).

Whenever someone mentions my name or company online, I know about it IMMEDIATELY thanks to Google Alerts – it sends me an email letting me know where the mention is.

Why should you know this information? If someone mentions my name, I can then comment or send an email to the webmaster regarding the page in question. If the mention was a good one, then I could thank him or her and make a connection. If it was bad, then I could ask why or try to change his or her opinions of me or see how the issue can be resolved. Either way, I am aware of what is being said about my company or myself, which is VERY important! Since most of my business comes from online, my online brand reputation means everything.

So now, do you see why I had you stop what you were doing? Make sure you stay on top of your targeted keywords and phrases, set up through Google Alerts. When a mention is made, that is an opportunity for you to join the conversation and engage the webmaster, and hopefully generate interest in your website or blog. This is especially important in obtaining inbound links to your site. Here is a sample of what I get on a daily basis for Business Baby Shower:

Google Web Alert for: “business baby shower”

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