Don't Underestimate The Power of Your Peers

This journey of starting my own business has sure had its ups and downs. But it's amazing how wonderful the women in my life have been in sharing their encouragement, knowledge and support. I'm also lucky because I live in a very entrepreneurial community. I never realized how many moms have great ideas and are acting on them, until I moved here to Daniel Island, South Carolina. It gives me the motivation to continue on this path of pursuing my business idea at http://www.design-girls.com/



I have gotten several tips so far. They are listed below in no certain order.



1. Start Small. Don't offer too many things out of the gate. It's better to start small and have that wonderful problem of not being able to meet demand than sitting on lots of inventory. I am also storing my own inventory and fulfilling orders myself. I've gotten rid of my 1-800 number. These were extras that were costing money and I can add them back at a later date.



2. Keep in touch with your customers regulary. Offer special sales or incentives to keep them coming back and often. Sign up with http://www.constantcontact.com/ and they can help you stay in touch through email marketing, online surveys or event marketing.



3.If sales are slow online, find free or low cost opportunities to sell your items face to face. At my childrens' school they host a Fall and Spring Market and the entry fee is minimal. Home shows and church bizarres are another low cost opportunity to get together with friends while introducing your items to the community. This is especially important for businesses like mine who are internet based, because people need to see the quality of the items firsthand.



4.Find alternatives to expensive advertising. Chantielle MacFarlane from http://www.scribendi.com/ recommends getting publicity for you business by signing up at http://www.helpareporter.com/, a website that was created to help journalists who are looking for story ideas. Chantielle works for Chandra Clarke, founder of Scribendi.com, who went from mompreneur to "power mommy" with her business. This duo tapped into the twittermoms influential network to get their word out. Check out Chandra's humor blog at http://www.chandraclarke.com.




Well those are my tips for today. Stay tuned....more to come. Time to think about what's for dinner.