Business apps

Well, last season we discussed apps that would possibly help you with your business. As a radio show  that needs just as much attention as a business I figured this would be a great opportunity to try it out. This time around I'm condensing as much work together to split the correct amount of time between the radio show marketing and my own business. I have a lot of things on my plate with having a child with autism and running my own business along with marketing for Something Building. Doctors appointments, iep's, carpool, publishing, and all the things that go along with having a family, especially a special needs child, there's a lot to do. And honestly very little time to do it. This week I downloaded a few apps to help with this other wise tricky schedule. If you only do facebook and twitter hootsuite is your best option. We do facebook, twitter, our blog and now google+. With just one message I can post to all but the blog.

Easypost as the app is called is fantastic. We have no reason to do Instagram or tumblr. Instagram is not an option with easypost but tumbler is. If you need an app to keep up with all you media marketing this is the app to go with. You will have a little trouble with google+ plus but in the FAQ section gives you some help with that. www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha is where you need to go to make the changes to allow google+ on this app. I can not stress enough how wonderful this app is. And the best part for us is it is free. 100% free! Another little problem you might run into is fb for pages don't freak when it wants to add your personal account. Accept that because you can pick after this to the fan page you work under.

Another draw back is that you will not have a clue if anyone likes or comments. I suggest that you personally got into your social media accounts and check them 30 minutes after you make a post using this app. I have apps for each of our social media sites for Something Building and can go straight into them from my ipad. Notifications are usually sent to my ipad on the app of the social media site that I'm on. So if you don't want to check on them, just down load the regular apps and you'll get messages letting you know, "Hey someone comments or used your @.

Teamwork in business

The best part of doing a radio show is that Jason and I work together as a team. We both have businesses and both have lives outside of business. I do all the creative parts of Something Building and Jason does all the rest. I get to do the blog because its writing and that falls into my area. The photo's and ads I get to create them because, well that falls into my area as well. While I work on one area of what we need he's busy fixing the website, twitter, the blog or google+ tying up the loose ends.

He does half and I do half. It's teamwork and that's the best type of work to do. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life. And it's true. I could not image doing the business of the radio show if I had to do it myself. Sometimes you have to have a partner, someone to have teamwork with. Reading through EntreLeadership book by Dave Ramsey, the people that you work with always consider them your team members. And let the golden rule shine. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's no secret, Jason is my best friend and so I will always treat him as such. We bounce ideas off it other. We are team members as friends and team members as co-hosts of the show. Keep it real but most importantly keep it as team work.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

Checking through our emails today I received one that I had to share. And with special permission Jamie allowed me to share it and even sent in a picture. Here it is:

Dear Jason and Beth,

I was a stay at home mom of two children one being a special needs child. My husband is deployed with the Army and I wanted something that I could do to help keep me sane since I speak to my husband once a day if I'm lucky. I saw your video on youtube and decided what would it hurt to listen to the show. I was surprised to hear that Beth was a mother of a child with Autism and she had her own business. Having a child with special needs is tough and I never thought I would be able to have my own business and still be able to give full attention to my child. You even gave businesses that real people on a tight budget could do with little money invested. Now whenever I'm out and about or at doctors appointments for my child I give everyone my business card and a little bit of information about my business. No longer am I on a tight budget thanks to all the medical bills. I'm able to be the mom I always dreamed of being and it's because of the great advice that I got from your show!

Thank you again!

Jamie O.

Business for you!

There have been plenty of times I've been out and about and met people that I speak with and one thing they almost always say is I want to start a business but I don't know what type business to do, so I want to start this blog off by letting you know the businesses that you too can have. It's confusing I will admit that. Let's get the confusing out of the way. If you have ever questioned what type of business you can start then question no more!

1.

I would like to introduce an AMAZING new ALL NATURAL Cosmetics line, Younique Products by Christy! Younique is a newer Direct Sales Company just over a year old and is booming with their Top Selling 3D Green Tea Fiber Mascara. In addition to the 3D Mascara there is a wonderful full line of other make-up including the BEST Mineral Pigments I have ever used! I hope if you are considering adding an extra income to your life with a Home Based Business that you will contact me! All sales are done online so there is no inventory you have to stock and you get paid DAILY! Message me for more details www.youniqueproducts.com/christyreed

2.

http://www.jjplexus.com/

3.

https://kristis.jewelkade.com

4.

http://robersonowl0618.origamiowl.com/

5.

https://sethbreding.kyani.net/r/usa-can/en/core/main

6.

https://www.youniqueproducts.com/kerryprybil

7.

 http://kerryprybil.makeuperaser.com/


8.

http://lashes.makeuperaser.com/

9.

https://www.youniqueproducts.com/saradeutsch

10.

And when you join our team by the end of May, you will receive $500 in FREE clothing! Anything you want, any size, any color!!!

http://www.myjockeyp2p.com/web/michellewilder/home/overview.do

11.

https://tmacs.myrandf.com/Home

12.

http://www.ameeker.arealbreakthrough.com

13.

 http://tmac.makeuperaser.com/

14.

http://tmacshairstudio.com/

It's all in the Presentation!

I had just gotten back on facebook scrolling to see if there was anything that I could post to our Something Building fan page for inspiration when I noticed that a friend of mine had posted this bag and it was loaded with goodies! Now I'm not normally a bag type person. Being so busy with my business and Something Building and graphic design for Tidbits, I'm always on the go. But I saw this image and said, "Now that is great presentation!" I shared the image and all it's information for a company called Epic Bling. This is epic because I start receiving comments from other woman on the post that I shared they had to have it too!
I checked out Epic Bling's facebook page and noticed they had over 17,000+ likes on their page, well they have me too now! Even though it's an image it shows perfectly how whomever you are targeting whither male, female or even children, it's the presentation of what your giving away or selling that matters the most. It's what drives traffic to your site or even facebook fan page.
I've downloaded the image and posting it here so you guys can see just how important presentation is. This is a great example because at this point I will admit that this bag has become my muse. We did not schedule or even discuss a blog topic on presentation. It just happened!
Inspiration for how you can better present you business can be found anywhere and I will be the first to admit that keeping your eyes open and not buried in your work can help motivate you to give the best of your business to everyone. It's what keeps you in business.
I would like to say thank you to Epic Bling for allowing me to use their image for this blog. For more information on Epic Bling you can find them on facebook at www.facebook.com/epicbling1 they are based out of Longview WA. They sell purses, wallets, hats and more. They also do private parties and large events.
The company Epic Bling began from very humble beginnings and through hard work and advertising know how has grown into a a successful business that we at Something Building are proud to support. And as I continue to add information into our blog I'm watching as her numbers are growing on facebook. It's all in the presentation. She knows her stuff and she knows what she's doing. Congratulations Epic Bling.

The clothes make the person.

To keep in the mood for working your own business the best thing to remember that to be the best you need to wear the best and your best is your uniform. It can be a button up shirt and khaki bottoms or it can be blue jeans and a t-shirt. But what might the shirts say about you or your business? When you go into any store you notice that even in grocery stores you will find the employees wearing certain colors and the store's name on their shirts. It's the set uniform. If those employees go out for lunch you can bet they won't change before they leave the store but wherever they go whether to pay the bills or grab a bite to eat they are a walking billboard for the company and it will remind someone to go to that store to look for what they need to find or even just go by there to pick up something.
The clothes do make you a success. I can't trust someone trying to sell me anything if they don't have a shirt advertising who they work for. It's hard to know if they are legit or not. Jason has shirts for both his company. I had one for the company that I work on with him but he had a sales rep. that went out to do sales and I gave her my shirt. As a graphics designer I'm rarely out in the field like a sales rep. But for my company I have t-shirts with my logo on the front and website information in huge logo form on the back. People do get interested in what your wearing when they are waiting any where and sometimes conversations get started.
Okay so some of you are saying I can't afford to go out and pay another company to create shirts for my company. I just don't have it in the budget. I've got a solution for you. As long as you have a good printer and every small business needs a good reliable printer. Get yourself some Avery fabric transfers, they can be found at Michael's, Joann's fabric, walmart, k-mart and Hobby Lobby. Depending on the shirt color for white or beige go with Light fabric transfers all other colors go with dark fabric transfers. Make sure that you have your logo that you want to wear on your computer. Follow the instructions for the fabric transfer but don't forget to tell the computer when you have everything set up on Avery's website to fill page in the print section. Also it's best to tell the printing section that it's photo paper. (If you don't do this you will get frustrated with paper jams.)
Print these out and iron onto your shirts following the directions. Too long under the iron your logo will smear. And there you go, Bob's your uncle. Your done. Pretty simple you control how many you want and if you want to save some transfers for later shirt printings.

Is my product good enough?

Last Saturday we talked about upcycling. In all honesty upcycle is nothing new it just recycling the way they did before the 70's. What is that saying from Bob the Builder? Reduce, reuse, recycle. That's basically the ins and out's of upcycling.
You can upcycle shirts into scarves, necklaces, braclets and many many more. Upcycling teaches you new ways to create new products, reuse what you have. Take something old and make it entirely new. A friend of mine posted about the new year and the blanket with sleeves. That's un upcycle product. The snuggy, cuddleuppets, stompeez, that's taking something old and turning it into something new. Of course we all know anything you upcycle and gear it towards children you either have and instant hit or an instant bomb.
So how do you know if what you upcycle is gonna be popular with kids? You love it right? Yeah what you love that's not to say that someone else will detest it. Do you have kids that are school age? Do you have relatives that you are close to with school aged children. Ask to come to the class for a show and tell project when you have a product for children. That way you will know right off the bat what you need to change to make your product better.