Are you doing all you can to succeed?

How many people can answer that without stopping to think about it? How many of you can answer yes? My guess is that most of you know your answer is no, but have a hard time admitting it.

So how can you do all you can to succeed? What might you be missing out on?

There are many, many steps to being successful and they vary from person to person, and business to business. Doing what works for a friend or another business owner may not fit with your goals or image. Each of you is individual and need to find what works for you and then work diligently to apply it to your business.

If you have an online presence, is your website eye-appealing to potential visitors? Does your website design scream, "buy these products/services," from your company? If you are not good at website design, check your budget and find someone who is. Have others review your website for spelling and grammar errors. Is your site inviting, do the colors work together with your text and products? Does the color scheme clash with your product photos? Do you have product photos and are they representative of your products?

Sticking with your website - If you are selling a product or service you will need to accurately describe the product or service. Don't leave it up to the customer to email you to ask a question, make sure you cover all bases when writing product/service descriptions. Most visitors to your website will not take the time to email a business. They will expect all their questions to be answered on the site.

This leads me to my next question - Do you have a "Frequently Asked Questions" or "FAQ's" page? Many visitors can easily find their answers on these types of pages. Be sure to list 5-10 frequently asked questions and their answers. Be specific! Remember, your visitor wants to know the answer now, they don't want to wait for an email response and they don't want to hunt the answer down on your site.

Are you an expert in your field? What type of experience do you have that qualifies you to make/offer your product or service? People want to know they are dealing with a competent business owner. They want to know they will be receiving a high quality product/service. Tell the visitor right from the beginning why you are the business they should purchase from.

If you are able to sell your products in a brick and mortar store, spend time describing your product features and benefits to the shop owner. The shop owner should know as much about your product as you do so that they are a competent representative for your product.

Social Media - What's the big deal? The big deal is that everyone is checking out some sort of social media these days. It used to be that blogs were the biggest thing on the net and everyone was getting one. Now you have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many more.

Blogs need to be updated often and can be used for personal and/or business purposes. Country Meadow Creations has a blog - Handcrafted and Decorative Soap. I've used the blog mainly for business purposes, but will occasionally include a personal note when I see the need. However, I have fallen victim to not updating the blog on a regular basis. That's my bad, life sometimes gets in the way.

My Twitter account was set up for both personal and business purposes. I feel that it is important to connect with others on a personal and business level. Some business owners will tell you it is a bad idea to connect personally with customers, but I feel that they need to know I am a person just like they are and this will go a long way when it comes to the customer trusting me to create a high quality product versus the business they just stumbled across on the internet.

Country Meadow Creations has a new fan page on Facebook. This page will be used for updates, new products, and to keep our customers informed about what we are doing in our business.

So many people get bombarded with an inbox full of spam and do not have a great deal of time to sift through a lot of email so company newsletters have the potential to be overlooked or deleted. I feel much better about providing my customers with non-invasive ways that they can keep up with my business through social media than I do about sending email notifications every month.

To gain more internet exposure you can also join groups that share your interests, join Top 100 sites, and start a Squidoo page. I belong to a variety of email groups that share my interest of soap making and being a work at home mom.

I recently attended the CNY SoapMakers 9th Annual Gathering where I was able to network with fellow soap makers, participate in a product swap, watch product demonstrations, and benefit from goodie bags filled with samples from generous suppliers.

I belong to a terrific group of work at home moms on Yahoo - The Mom Pack, whose main site can be found here, Mom Pack. I also am a volunteer moderator for the group which currently has over 9000 members!

I created a Creative Women Top 100 Site that offers free advertising to women in business. These types of sites are a terrific way to get free exposure and to find other sites to link with. The site also offers paid advertising opportunities for women owned businesses.

Why Handcrafted Soap? is a Squidoo page that I created to educate people about the benefits of handcrafted soap. The page focuses on my products, but also suggests great books about handcrafted soapmaking, and how to create beautiful glycerin soaps.

And last but not least, become a featured success story here on this blog! If you're interested in being featured all you have to do is drop me a line and I'll send a questionnaire for you to fill out. If you become a featured site you will receive a button to post on your site announcing that your site is featured here. This is great exposure for your business!

Success in Memories

Remembered Moments

Julie Vander Pol

507.220.0682

Julie@Remembered-Moments.com

Remembered Moments has been in business since 2004. Julie started this business because she had several people say they wished that someone could create memory albums and scrapbook for them.

Why would you want someone to offer these services to you?

1. You don’t have the time to do it yourself.

2. You don’t like to scrapbook or don’t feel you are creative enough to scrapbook.

3. You just don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed.

It was for all these reasons and more that Julie started her business. She felt her many years of experience would be a great way to help other people while doing something that she loved. She is experienced in both digital design and traditional paper crafting.

Although her business is service-based, her clients still receive a finished product. She is unique in that all items are handmade by her and she offers both a service and a product to her clients.

Julie’s target market is working couples/parents, new parents, newlyweds, and retired travelers. However, she believes that just about anyone can benefit from her services and products.

What makes Remembered Moments stand out from the crowd? Julie works worldwide to create custom made items to suit her clients. She creates a personalized website for each client so they can view their works in progress. Julie offers this service so that her clients can see the pages prior to receiving their scrapbook and it is easier for them to ask her to add journaling to each page. She has payment plans available and accepts many forms of payment. Julie does not limit herself to custom scrapbooks, although this is her primary service. She also creates birth/adoption announcements, wedding invitations, programs, shadowboxes, altered rolodexes, recipe boxes, pre-made albums, and many other items. Julie also works with clients on special requests for other paper crafting projects when asked. She also provides scrapbook copying and printing and will provide traditional (paper) scrapbooking/crafts and digital scrapbooking/crafts.

Remembered Moments markets their products and services through their website and on a referral basis. The company is run solely by Julie who does everything from finances, crafting, web design, marketing, and taxes.

Julie has a degree in mechanical engineering so a lot of business based learning was done while earning her degree. She says she doesn’t think she would be where she is today if she had not obtained that degree.

What is your definition of success? Julie says, “Success to me is helping anyone preserve their memories-even if it is just one event, or one story, or one photo-that was more then what was preserved before.”

This is Success in Bloom – What type of flower are you/your business and why?

Gardenia-these flowers are hard to grow and have a strong scent. Many people find it hard to preserve their memories, for many different reasons; but also know, and are continually reminded, that it is very important to do so. (The hard to grow Gardenia is like how many people find it hard to preserve their memories; being continually reminded that it is important to do is like the strong scent of the Gardenia continually giving off its strong fragrance.)

Would you be willing to offer any specials to the blog readers?

Success in Bloom readers will receive 10% off all custom scrapbook orders placed by September 30 when they reference Success in Bloom.

It's All About You - Baby!

Little for Now

Julie Holland Email - Julie@littlefornow.com

Julie started her business in March, 2006. She chose this business because she loves cloth diapers and baby things. At the
time she started the business she was still struggling with infertility, but she decided the time had come to stop putting off this dream, baby or no baby. She is thrilled that she is now getting the chance to make and buy way too many cloth diapers for my own little girl born in October.

Julie sells products, but cloth diapers are a service as well. Moms really want to know how to succeed with cloth diapers. There are so many options that she spends a lot of time educating customers about their choices. Julie makes some products and sells a lot of the top brands in cloth diapering and baby care. She is always expanding, so every month she adds some new products from her own creativity and some from other manufacturers.

Julie says her target market is moms who want to diaper their babies in the most cost-effective, comfortable and environmentally friendly way. Moms who are "green like me," they want to be environmentally friendly but also look for convenience. Julie determined her target market through trial and error as much as anything. Every few months she takes a good, hard look at where she wants to take this business. So much is changing with new laws regulating baby products and the economy changing. She tries to pay attention to what makes sense for who she is as well as what she wants her business to be.

What makes Little for Now different? Information! Julie says she works hard to share as much information as possible in her product listings and in the articles she writes, as well as when she speaks to or emails a customer. “I want to make sure they are happy with
their choices and that they understand all of the choices available to them.”

Julie started out on an incredibly tiny budget. She had no money for advertising, so she had invested a lot of time into "sweat equity" marketing. She writes a lot of reviews and writes a lot of high-quality articles (junk articles won't help!). She posts in forums where
appropriate and builds a lot of informational web sites to build her brands and show her expertise. “It is a LOT of work, but I have succeeded in building a viable business with almost no advertising money.”

She has always sold the majority of her products online. The local market for cloth diapers is always bigger than the online market because of the competition, but her family demands were such that local marketing was just not possible for the first few years. Now that she is starting to get the word out locally, she is seeing a huge potential there because local customers love that they can touch and feel before they buy.

Little for Now does not currently have any employees, Julie runs the business herself. She tried hiring seamstresses twice and it was a nightmare both times, so she is looking to outsource again, but waiting until she has time to do more close supervision. Her husband does help with shipping a couple of times a week.

Cloth diapers are an incredibly competitive business to be in. The profit margins are low, so you need to sell a lot to make any money. There are probably 700 or more cloth diaper stores online and lots of people who jump into it thinking they can undercut everyone else on price and still stay in business. Julie says she also struggled the first two years because she was supporting her family financially while building the business. The business really suffered from the lack of capital, but she kept plugging along. She put every penny she could back into the business. “This is definitely not a get-rich-quick business! But, as I have slowly and steadily pushed forward I have seen steady growth.”

Julie has a public relations and marketing background, but her experience was largely with display advertising and direct mail, neither is cost-effective for this market. She did run another business in her early 20's - she was a personal chef for a couple of years and learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of business.

Her life is not as balanced as she would like it to be. Julie has a 3 month old baby and 3 businesses, as well as many other projects. She tends to be far too ADD with my business projects. Her advice would be to pick one or two things and stick with them. Splintering your resources slows down your growth. If you do build more than one business, keep them separate unless they are closely related. Customers are not impressed when they see a site that says something like "Arielle's Home Baked Cookies, Used Motorcycles and Bait and Tackle Shop." Even if you are an expert at a dozen things, you look more professional if you look focused.

Julie suggests the following to help your business: Any of the Paul and Sarah Edwards business books are good. I particularly like the Practical Dreamer's Handbook. The biggest thing is to start. Research is important, but if you spend all your time on research, you will never move forward.

What is your definition of success? Having choices about how I spend my time. I made a lot more money in my previous careers - and I worked fewer hours, but I have the freedom to decide that I need a day off if a family member needs me. I can stop and nurse the baby, then get back to work. Being able to be here with her while she grows is worth all the time I have spent building this business.

This is Success in Bloom - What type of flower are you/your business and why? A wild sunflower. I live in the Rocky Mountains and it is very dry here. In the summer it looks like the fields are all dead and dry. Then, in late summer, there is a sudden explosion of gorgeous sunflowers that fill the fields. Where it looked like there was nothing worth noticing, suddenly there is something so beautiful and bright, it makes you glad to be alive. After much hardship, I feel like my life is coming into bloom.


Would you be willing to offer any specials to the blog readers?

Save $10 off of $75 or more with the code SEEMEBLOOM. Expires June 15.

Success through Perseverance

I graduated high school. I graduated college with a bachelor's degree in business administration, minoring in business management. I spent 10 years as a retail manager. I opened and ran an in-home day care for 3 years. I have run an online handcrafted soap business for 9 years. Three years ago I went back to college to pursue early childhood teacher certification. When I started back at college I never thought I would finish-the end seemed so far away. However, after taking all those education classes, student teaching was completed in April. All my major certification tests have been taken & I'm waiting on the results from the last test (due within the next week). I studied hard and lost a lot of sleep. I made the Dean's, Chancellor's, and President's list in my last four semesters.

You may be asking yourself why I think anyone should care. Why would I go on about my accomplishments? It's to prove that it's never too late to achieve success. It doesn't matter if you're fresh out of high school or if it's been 20 years! Success is measured by you and you alone.

I'm not someone who can do only one thing at a time. While I was a retail manager I started my soap business. As I did both of those I dropped to part-time retail manager and started the day care. I dropped the management and kept the soap business and day care. I dropped the day care when we decided to move south. While in college the second time around I have kept the soap business.

Again, my point is what? You CAN do whatever you want and find success. It takes time and hard work, but you can be successful!

As I look for an early childhood teaching job I will be continuing my soap business and featuring other women on this blog who have found success in their lives. Are you one of those successful women? Leave a comment & I'll send you a questionnaire so I can feature you in an upcoming post!

Sale has concluded

The big birthday bash sale has concluded successfully. Thank you to all who ordered during this big sale and congratulations to those receiving free orders!

I hope that all enjoy their handcrafted soaps!

It's a Birthday Sale!

Big Birthday Bash Sale

In celebration of my birthday and my daughter's birthday this weekend, I am offering 40% of $40 or more purchases of handcrafted soap and every 10th order is FREE!

If you are the 10th order, your purchase price will be refunded.

This offer is valid 3/27 - 3/29.

Offer is not valid on previous orders, wholesale orders, supplies, or Kat's Coffees & More orders.

Offer is valid on handcrafted soap orders only.

Visit Country Meadow Creations today!

101 Women Bloggers to Watch in 2009

Imagine my surprise when I looked at the list of 101 women bloggers to watch in 2009 put together by WE Magazine for Women and found my site on the list! I am very honored to be a part of such a terrific group of women bloggers.

I would like to thank WE Magazine for Women for including this blog in the list, it is truly appreciated!

Pink Heels with Jennifer Moore

Pathway To Presence Blog with Gina Rafkind

Women Xplore with Bela

Say Yes Institute with Carrie Stack, M.Ed.

Prosperity is Now with Donna McAlister

Financial blog with Tawra

Freedom Blogging with Jan Norman
Writer’s Eye Advisory Service with Lael Johnson
Vanilla Sage with Eleisia Whitney
Conventional Wisdom Institute with Rebecca Staton-Reinstein
Advantage Virtual Assistant with April Jones

Poder Interior with Norma Cruz

Almost Smart Cookie with Dr. LeslieBeth Wish

Marcom Interactive with Linda Zimmer

Smart Woman Guides with Vicki Flaugher

Women’s Work with Susan

Bari J with Bari J Ackerman

Arizona Home Talk with Becky Wyatt

Tech Coach for Coaches with Sandra DeFreitas

Belle Vivir with Julie

Rain’s Authentic Blog

Virtual Book Tour with Nikki Leigh

Isaac Business Services with Cheryl Isaac

Andrea Dean’s Blog

Diane Kennedy’s Tax Loopholes

That Crazy Mom with April
Orange Soda with Janet Meiners Thaeler
Women Entrepreneurs - The First Year with Jo Anne Cohn

Becoming Something with Natasha

Fast Wonder Blog with Dawn Foster

Great Adaptations with Suzanna
The Get Smart Blog with Bridget Ayers
Julie Yack’s Blog
Tammy Tailor Nails

The Best of Marbella with Maria Petrak

Denise Mabilog Photography

Madalyn’s Music Biz Blog

The Chronicle of Coaching with Linda Ballew

Communication Bridges with Mary Schnack

Supernatural Botanicals with Robin Feltner

The RebelWoman Show with Jann Taber

Wealth, Success and Women with Heather Juma

Women Entrepreneurs Secrets with Deb Bailey

Dawn at Your Service with Dawn Lawson

Success in Bloom with Colleen Johnston

Girls Getaway Guide with Casey Wohl

Mommy Revenue with Rhonda White

Savvy Doula with Darlene MacAuley

SheEO Blog with Jennifer Dalitz

The Productivity Queen with Lorraine Pirihi

The Bulletin Board with Eydie Stumpf

Quick Moments with Gayna

Rachel’s Place with Rachel

Women Wise with Kelly Watson

Tax Tips Blog with Gina Gwordz

WorldChangingBusiness with Coco Fossland

Not Just Pretty with Erin Ferree

NextSteph with Stephanie M. Cockerl

The T-Shirt Lady with Sandi Myers

PKS Miami with Jane Zucker

Cherie’s Profit Blog with Cherie Ang

Online Business Woman with Roxanne

Technical Projects with Sara Isenberg

Viva Visibility with Nancy Marmolejo

Your Design Biz Blog with Mary Larsen

Yielding Wealth with Miranda Marquit

Work From Home Momma with Laura Spencer

Workerette with Melonie Murray

Words of a Broken Mirror with Alina Popescu

Wise Women Investor with Lisa Moren Bromma

The Next Women with Simone Brummelhuis
Startup Spark with Shannon Cherry

Speak Schmeak with Lisa Braithwaite

Small Business Boomers with Jean Murray

Sisters In Biz with Monica Flores

Real Thinking with Patricia Hewitt

Randa Clay Design with Randa Clay

Pajama Professional with Sara Christensen

Origin of Brands with Laura Ries

Mingle with Beth Brodovsky

Leader Notes with Bridget Wright

Leader Networks with Vanessa DiMauro

Interview Chatter with Darlene McDaniel

Help Desk Notes with Linda Marie

Greener Assets with Allison Boyer

Green Gigs with Lori Stewart

Funny Business with Elana Centor

Everyday Networker with Jennifer Gniadecki

Customers Are Always with Maria Palma

Corporate PR with Elizabeth Albrycht

Chiefette with Fiona Powell

Behind The Buzz with Rachel Clarke

I live in Dallas with Jennifer

Advergirl with Leigh Householder

Chicas Emprendedoras with Paola Cristina Diaz

Tulips Talk with Heidi Richards Mooney

Melissa Seymour with Melissa Seymour

Media Relations with Jeri Cartwright

Making Strategic Sense with Patti Dragland

Let’s Get Down to Business with Pam Wolf
Betsy Aoki’s Blog

Please take a moment to check out all of these wonderful women bloggers!