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

 

 

"Balancing work and home is hard enough when those are two separate places, but some women manage to tame the chaos of their hectic family schedules long enough to get work done without ever leaving the home. These moms doing double duty can use some resources to help them make the most of their time at work, with their families and for themselves. Here are a 100 resources and links that we’ve found to help moms working at home make the most of everything they do."

Read More at The WAHM’s Toolbox: 100 Links and Resources

It's for American WAHMs but much of the info is relevant to Australian WAHMs.

A Short Course in SEO  is a user friendly, down and dirty guide to SEO.

"Anyone who does business on the internet today has heard of SEO (search engine optimization), and many have tried their hand at it themselves. Most find, however, that they don’t get much response from their efforts. This leads to a dilemma for a start-up business: Is there any way to capitalize on internet traffic without paying big bucks for a professional SEO?

The answer is, yes and no. As with anything in business, you can’t get something for nothing, and most people who own top listings for competitive search engine keywords have paid dearly for that privilege. However, there are some simple things that can help make your new website more friendly not only to search engines, but also to your customers:

1. Remember that your customers always come first! Make your site easy to use and easy to buy from, and you will win a loyal following. Simple, straightforward sites perform best all around. Clearly labeled navigation, informative page content, secure online purchasing and ease of ordering are some key elements to a successful website." Read More at SEO - A Short Course

 Search engine optimisation can be the life or death of your website, and many WAHMs do not have the budgets to employ a professional to optimise their websites. SEO A Short Course is a great resource for those of us maintaining blogs and websites, trying to make our mark on the WWW.

 

Technorati Profile

Kim Shirley, made a choice when she had her son, to stay home, and watch his amazing growth and development. Going from a double income family to a single income family, is enough to put pressure on anyone's budget, so putting her design and creative skills to good use, Kim launched Designed with Love.

Designed with Love is a handcrafted invitation service, for Engagements, Babies, and Weddings. Kim is a talented designer, with a great eye for composition, and colour, and it's reflected in her work, which is simply beautiful

 Starting out any business is a trick for young players, typical of many business owners, Kim had wonderful skills in her field of work - but needed a hand with setting up and running a business.

Serendipitiously Kim stumbled upon Oz WAHM Network. And it was there that she discovered the support that a network of business mums and WAHMs could give.

"The women in the forum are all so friendly and supportive." Said Kim "It's really great being able to chat with women who are so willing to help"

 Kim says that the best thing about the forum is the support that the members give. It's provided her with a resource to help her get the "business side" of her business up and running.

So, what advice would Kim give to an aspiring WAHM?

"Do your research, learn about websites, learn about ABNs and business structure, learn about the technical stuff. Join a forum like Oz WAHM  and don't try to fly by the seat of your pants"

Oz WAHM Network offers aspiring work at home mums like Kim, business advice, support, and promotion, to get their businesses off the ground. If  you're considering a Work at Home Business make Oz WAHM network your first port of call.

 Kim's online store can be viewed here

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Blog/Chris-Thomas-blog/20080418-Webinar-SEO-tips-you-can-use-now.html

Chris Thomas hosted a recent Webinar, available for download at the above link.  This would be a good resource for WAHMs to check out, and implement in their pages.

The main points from the blog were:

Use of Heading Tags in pages - Search engines like them.

Use of the <title> Tag - use your keywords

 Chris quotes some sites that have done really well in their SEO

Sitbackandrelax.com.au – spammy title tag, but it ranks really well!

Militaryandlaw.com.au – spammy title tag, but it ranks really well!

Dontfretpet.com.au – again, spammy title tag, but guess what? It ranks really well!

I'd love to hear your comments and opinions on how the MP3 file was of use to you.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23557032-7583,00.html

In yesterday's Australian, Ms Jessica Brown, and Mr Peter Saunders addressed the issue of Kevin Rudd's plans to "Farm" our nations babies, into a government sponsored childcare program.

Personally, I do not believe that virtually forcing mothers to return to the workforce is a good option to address the nation's labour crisis. Delegating a child's upbringing to the daycare system is irresponsible of the goverment, regardless of the "perks" it offers: "There will be health checks on babies, child vaccinations, advice for mothers, counselling for parents, long hours day care for infants, and preschool early learning programs for toddlers. All of this will be underpinned by national quality standards, so every centre will be run in the same way and will be staffed by experts with lots of certificates and diplomas to their name"

 Providing benefits such as those listed above, cannot, and does not subsitute for a mother's care. The medical implications of childcare centres are becoming apparent, and the lack of accountability in our children's upbringing, is terrifying.

I hope Mr Rudd considers supporting the stay at home mum, and work at home mum - as the system he proposes, may well see the end of the WAHM enterprise.

 In line, with my beliefs, Oz WAHM network will continue to support mothers to stay at home with their children, support their businesses, and uphold the right of the mother to choose.

 

In today's very competitive workforce, where finding and keeping good employees can mean the difference between business success and business failure - it makes sense to allow a flexible workforce.

Allowing a mother to resume her position in a flexible manner from home, has many advantages:

Firstly, you don't lose a valued employee, whom you've spent many hours and dollars training. Replacing them could prove to be far more expensive when recruitment and training are taken into account. The more experienced the employee, the more they're going to cost to replace.

As their children get older, it's likely a work at home career mum will return to the workforce, if you've kept her on your payroll, you've encouraged her loyalty, continued her professional development, and saved yourself the time and effort of recruiting.

Offering flexible work options, is a great way to encourage loyalty and boost your profile as a great employer. It's a step ahead of your competition.


Resources:
http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Programmes/WorkFamily/Whyflexibleworkarrangementsaregoodforbusiness.htm
http://www.eowa.gov.au/
http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Programmes/WorkFamily/WorkandFamilyAwards.htm

This fortnight's featured WAHM is Alisha from Baby Safari.

Here's Alisha's profile:

"My name is Alisha and along with my mother Ann we decided to open Baby
Safari.  I converted to modern cloth nappies (MCN) after the birth of my son,
Joshua, and I was hooked!  Like most people who end up WAHM's I was looking
for something I could do from home so that I could stay here while Josh
grows up and as my other passion is horses I very nearly went to a horse
related store but the cloth won over and I thought it could be a great
opportunity to share MCN with people who may not have known they had an
alternative to disposables and the terry squares!

As well as MCN we decided to stock some of our other favourite products, so
we have some natural skincare for your baby and slings and pouches so that
you can carry your baby close and keep your hands free to do other things!
Soon we will have our own line of nappies in store which is really exciting.
I want to offer a quality nappy that is economical so that people who find
the initial outlay for MCN daunting, have a place to start what can become
an addiction!!"

 Alisha can be visted at www.babysafari.com.au