So often, the WAHMs I chat with, are so wrapped up in their businesses, that they've forgotten the most important person in the world: THEM.

Taking time out for one's self, is so important, it's not a selfish idea, it's self indulgent-  but so important. How would you ever expect to serve others, if you're not 100% yourself.

 I reccomend that WAHMs take 10 minutes every day, just for themselves. Here's some ideas to get you started

• Have a lovely cup of herbal tea.
• Read a book, sheerly for entertainment.
• Sit outside, and listen to the birds
• Have a shower, all to yourself, and use some beautiful soaps (try www.funkysoaps.com.au)
• Have a bubblebath
• Meditate
• Go for a walk
• Swing on a swing

Just what every woman needs, encouragement to look great, feel great, and kick back and enjoy the finer things in life. At Beauty Banquet, that's exactly what you'll find. A decadent range of beautiful jewellery, cosmetics, and services that make you feel like a hollywood start.

Anne also runs www.funkysoaps.com.au  a beautiful site that sells quirky, luxurious, and downright decadent soaps.

and Funky Soaps Beauty Banquet, is owned and run by WAHM Anne Maybus!

Well, I've got to say, Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, is every entreprenuers bible.  It discusses marketing at the grass roots level, and offers practical tips that actually work!

 It's one of those books that ought to be read with a notepad and pencil close by, as it's chocka block full of ideas, and strategies. Like the 16 secrets of Guerilla marketing, and consent selling, committment, and how long to hold out marketing. When to stop a "marketing attack"

 It's the book written for the small fish, with the bite sized budget!!  I rate it 5 Stars!

Oh and the best part, as far as books go, it's VERY cheap at amazon!!

This is courtesy of Seth Godin's blog, and I think it's very relevant to our Work at Home Mums

"What Every Good Marketer Knows:

• Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.
• Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.
• Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.
• Share of wallet is easier, more profitable and ultimately more effective a measure than share of market.
• Marketing begins before the product is created.
• Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.
• Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.
• Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort ofconversations.
• Products that are remarkable get talked about.
• Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
• You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
• If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is aninvestment.
• People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
• You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.
• What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love.
• Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.
• Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness. At the sametime, new ways of spreading ideas (blogs, permission-based RSS information, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work.
• People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.
• Good marketers tell a story.
• People are selfish, lazy, uninformed and impatient. Start with that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
• Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.
• Effective stories match the worldview of the people you are telling the story to.
• Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.
• A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.
• Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world.
• Marketers are responsible for the side effects their products cause.
• Reminding the consumer of a story they know and trust is a powerful shortcut.
• Good marketers measure.
• Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.
• One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.

• In the googleworld, the best in the world wins more often, and wins more.
• Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.
• There are more rich people than ever before, and they demand to be treated differently.
• Organizations that manage to deal directly with their end users have an asset for the future.
• You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.
• You market when you hire and when you fire. You market when you call tech support and you market every time you send a memo.
• Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.

Obviously, knowing what to do is very, very different than actually doing it."

From http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/05/what-do-you-kno.html

Belly Bumps to Baby Hugs stocks the breastfeeding cover - it's a discrete way to feed your baby in public.  A light weight, bib like cover, covers both you and bub.

 Personally, discretion is not an issue when it comes to breastfeeding, however I have a wily 10 month old, who is easily distracted. The cover gives me the opportunity to keep his focus on the task at hand, making breastfeeding even in a noisy environment, a breeze.

 The cover is so lovely and light, it's not stuffy, and doesn't feel cumbersome at all.

 To order your own Breastfeeding Cover - visit Belly Bumps to Baby Hugs

If you're looking for invitations and stationery that's created with as much passion as what you're putting into your event, look no further than Designed With Love.com.au

Designed with Love  is run by a WAHM Kim Shirley. Kim's creations stand out for their personal touch. Each invitation is hand created, and Kim's passion is evident in the end product.

 I've used Kim for my son's first birthday invitations, and they are simply magnificent. She somehow managed to capture the sense of fun we were hoping to create.

 Kim specialises in wedding stationery - but will happily customise her work to suit any event you have upcoming.

Ok, so I'm a day or so late - but it's a good cause to promote! RSS Awareness day, as promoted by Daily Blog Tips!

Being a WAHM, Time's a premium in our household. So I use a feed reader to keep up todate with my favourite blogs,ezines, forums, and newsletters. This had me thinking, that syndication feeds are an underutilised marketing tool. So I set out to learn a little more about how they work, and what's the go!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, or according to other sources Rich Site Summary - but in laymens terms, it's code that gives a description of an article you've posted on your blog or website. A quick breakdown of what RSS is in semi-technical terms can be found here.

 So how does this help you and your website?

 As a Publisher of RSS feeds, you're offering your subscribers constant contact. This can help you establish yourself as a premium information source in your industry. You can bypass the junk email folder in your client's inbox. RSS feeds are the definition of opt in!

Newsletters, Forum Posts, eZines and of course blogs can all be published via RSS.

Quick Tips

Have a clear link to your RSS feeds - put it somewhere prominent!

Learn how to publish feeds  - lots of resources here

Publish regular and relevant, and USEFUL content!!

So you're a work at home mum... There's one factor most other business owners never have to deal with, and that is the unpredictable nature of children. And for those of us who don't necessarily have help on hand to care for them, running a business and managing a growing family is a tricky affair!

 So, what can be done, to manage this juggling act...?

Default Diary. 

The first thing to consider, is a default diary. What this is, is a diary that blocks out your time into categorised chunks.

1. Check Emails & RSS Feeds time
2. Sales Calls time
3. Customer Followup Time
4. Marketing time
5. Planning Time
6. Family Time etc etc

Block it all out into an 8 hour day, and colour code: Simple! (I do mine in a spreadsheet)

 That way, when someone calls, and inevitably wants something done, you have a ROUGH idea of when you'll be able to achieve it.

Day to Day Diary

Your regular day planner, where your appointments, phone numbers and notes are kept. Do yourself a favour, get a good sturdy one. If your diary is anything like mine, it's going to be bashed around, and lugged everywhere. Bonus points if you get a ring binder style diary, that allows you to file note, and have niftly little plastic pockets for business cards and dockets!

Sticky Notes

Are my saving grace. I stick them on the door frame, so they're the last thing I see as I walk out of the house. The amount of times I would have forgotten something important, but didn't with the notes, has paid for them over and over again.

Time planning software

  Toodledo.com

is an easy to use, web-based to-do list. Keeping track of all your tasks will help you avoid disorganization, stay motivated and be more productive. Check it out.

Accept that you can't always do it

At the end of the day, your children come first- that's why  you got into the business in the first place. Noone's perfect, just communicate well with your customers and suppliers.

Press Release Oz WAHM Network.pdf (81.81 kb)

"April 22nd, Joondalup, WA: Horrified with the reputation of some of Australia's daycare centres; Kiera Pedley, mum to 9 month old Connor, decided to take action. Several of her friends children had negative experiences in the childcare system. Mixed up pacifiers and bottles, lost clothes, and a plethora of childhood ilnesses. Deciding not to subject her child to the downside of childcare, Kiera began her home based business."

Groovy Kids Parties Kids birthday party ideas, childrens party themes, birthday party games, cool birthday cakes, free birthday invitations, birthday party planning and much more...

 Groovy kids, is a really fun site, selling party supplies, ideas, and virtually everything you need to have an awesome kid's party! The site's run my a WA based WAHM, Mary Lou!

She's currently featured on Momz.com