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EPnews -- from The Entrepreneurial Parent
a work-family resource for home-based entrepreneurs
@ http://www.en-parent.com
August 9, 2000
Lisa Roberts, Editor:
epideas@en-parent.com
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_______________CONTENTS_______________
The Funny Things EP Kids Say
& Do
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: "The Entrepreneurial Parent"
book w/ Paul & Sarah
Edwards!!
Making Money Matters -- McKinnon Information Services
EP Expert Q&As -- When to HomeSchool?
What's Happening at EP -- EP Teleseminar / Membership Automation
Completed
_________________________________________
Editorial Note: EPnews is distributed
the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every
month, and once a month during July & August. The Entrepreneurial
Parent web
site is updated on an ongoing basis (en-parent.com). Welcome
all new
subscribers!
___________________________________
THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY & DO!
=====
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber, Marybeth Henry, EP to two children,
Meghan, 3
1/2 and Robby, 13 months, (mailto:wahmfest@juno.com):
While at Toys R Us the other
day, my 3 1/2 year-old was playing with a ball
she told me she was "getting." I responded, "no,
honey, we're not getting a
ball today, but we are getting these bubbles." Meghan turned
around and
said, "I don't want bubbles, Mom, but thanks for sharing!"
=====
Why work at home? So you can hear the funny things your EP Kids
say
throughout the day. Share with the EP Community something your
child said or
did recently that made you smirk, giggle, or LOL. Send your submission
via
e-mail to:epideas@en-parent.com.
And if you need a stockpile of
smiles to get you through your EP day, pick up
your own heartwarming copy of Grace Housholder's "The Funny
Things Kids Say."
On those stressed-out EP days, you'll be glad you did!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963871536/theentrepreneuri
__________________________________________________________
ANNOUNCING -- NEW BOOK FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL PARENTS!
Calling all EPs! Paul & Sarah
Edwards & Lisa Roberts want to feature YOU in
their New Book!
I have wonderful news to share!
Over the summer I signed a publishing
contract for a book entitled, "The Entrepreneurial Parent:
How to Earn Your
Living at Home in the Internet Age and Still Enjoy Your Family,
Your Life and
Your Work," to be published by Tarcher/Putnam in early 2002.
My co-authors are Paul &
Sarah Edwards -- best-selling authors, columnists
and speakers on new and better ways to live and work. You may
have already
read some of Paul & Sarah's most popular books -- "Finding
Your Perfect
Work," "Best Home Business for the 21st Century,"
"Getting Business to Come
to You," and their perinneal best-seller, "Working
from Home" (now in its 5th
edition). As pioneers in the work-at-home movement for over 20
years, Paul &
Sarah have met, taught, interviewed and wrote about thousands
of
"Entrepreneurial Parents" over the years, and they
are very excited about
working with me in developing a book devoted to the very special
needs of
EPs.
(Yes, that would be YOU!)
As an EPnews Subscriber and a
vital part of the online "EP Community," you
are invited to be the first to fill out our "National Survey
of
Entrepreneurial Parents," which will be hosted by ka-Ching
on Oxygen! In
September all EPs will be able to fill out the survey at ka-Ching,
but as an
EPnews Subscriber you can get *your* profile in now at:
http://en-parent.com/survey.htm
We look forward to working with
you to create a book for, by and about EPs --
and many thanks to all of you for uniting together as a thriving
community
and helping to make a book project of this caliber come to fruition
;-)!
(Congrats to all of us!)
________________________________________________
MORE MEDIA INQUIRIES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR EPs
Wanted: an EP Mom with a lively,
open personality and a willingness to share
the "life & times of an EP" via a web camera on
an ongoing basis. Get
consistent exposure on Oxygen's cable show AND ka-ching.com's
web site, and
have some fun while you're at it! If you're interested, email
lisa at
lisa@en-parent.com & tell me why you'd be the perfect candidate
for this
excellent publicity opportunity. (Please note -- I cannot respond
to every
email, but promise to read them all!) Good luck!
Good news! EPnews subscribers
Jeralynn Burke & Pete Siler will be featured in
an upcoming article in Business Week on parents who work at home.
Way to go,
Jer & Pete!!
=====
Jeff Zbar, our own "EP Work-at-Home
Dad Expert," is looking for the following:
* I'm doing a piece for Home
Office Computing on UNIQUE AND MEMORABLE
MARKETING EFFORTS, WEB SITES AND LEAVE-BEHINDS. I need two examples
of people
who are really (not to sound trite but) out-of-the-box marketing
thinkers. I
also need two experts on savvy micro-business marketing (sort
of a Jay Conrad
Levenson-type thinker). Sorry, but if you've ever been included
in one of my
HOC articles, you can't personally participate, but this will
aid your
friends or clients with national exposure. Need leads asap.
Email: jeff@goinsoho.com
for the above.
__________________________________
EP TIMES -- AN EDITORIAL
FYI, I'm taking a break from
EP Times this summer ;-)! Will be back with the
column in the Fall.
=====
Lisa Roberts is the mother of four, Web Producer of en-parent.com
and author
of "How to Raise A Family & A Career Under One Roof:
A Parent's Guide to Home
Business" (Bookhaven Press, 1997). Copies of her book are
available for
purchase at: http://en-parent.com/order.htm
and through Amazon, at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0943641179/theentrepreneuri
____________________________________________
MAKING MONEY MATTERS
Being available to your kids
and managing a career under one roof sounds to
many like the best of both worlds, but without pulling in some
kind of income
what's all the effort for? Making Money Matters!
This month Heather McKinnon,
an EP to a 4-year old son and the owner of
McKinnon Information Services, shares her marketing tips with
us. Her contact
info is:
Heather McKinnon
Research Consultant
McKinnon Information Services
http://www.internetresearch.bigstep.com
hmckinnon@ns.sympatico.ca
Ph: 902-755-2937
Fax: 603-372-4631
PO Box 735 , 103 River Street
Stellarton, Nova Scotia
Canada B0K 1S0
(Want to spread the word about
YOUR business in EPnews? Let's hear how YOU
earn your keep as an EP! Mailto:editor@en-parent.com
with the subject heading
"MMM Survey" and we'll get the questionnaire over to
you. Thank you!!)
1. In a 2-3 sentence statement,
explain what your home business is about,
including your target market and "mission statement."
McKinnon Information Services
provides professional and reliable information
search and retrieval services for professionals. Our mission
is to assist the
client in making their jobs easier by doing their research for
them. By doing
so, we help the client save time and money. Target market includes
business
owners (large and small), lawyers, doctors, and the general public.
2. What are the most popular
products and/or services you sell? How much do
you sell them for (or what's your hourly rate), and how did you
find the
right price/fee schedule for them?
My services include Internet
research and instructing Internet workshops. I
usually charge $20 / per hour for research and retrieval (which
includes
information gathered and compiled into the preference of the
client - usually
a spreadsheet or Word format) and $35 / per hour for teaching
Internet
workshops. I teach Internet workshops to small business owners
at our local
Business Service Center using a course that I created. My rates
are
negotiable as sometimes the client has more than one need and
we will work
out a payment system that works for both of us.
3. What are *your* favorite
products and/or services? Why do you like to
sell them?
I absolutely love teaching the
Internet course. I enjoy helping others learn
and feel that I have found my "niche" doing so. I can
relate so well to my
students as we are all small business owners and they look up
to me as I am
"there" right along with them building a business.
I also thrive on my
research skills......believe it or not but I get a "buzz"
(LOL) finding
exactly what my clients want and need. When my client is happy,
I am happy.
4. Tell us a bit about your
marketing campaign. When did you start noticing
your first sales (after which marketing technique), what marketing
efforts
have you noticed yield the greatest results, and how do you make
your first
contact and subsequent sales (via online, phone, fax, mail, face-to-face)?
I started out going door-to-door
to potential clients. I was passing out
business cards, brochures, etc. to everyone I knew. I belong
to a network of
other small business owners in my local area at our Business
Service Center
and we would meet once a month for brainstorming ideas. I started
doing
exclusive work for a local lawyer and started building up a great
relationship with him doing legal research. This continues to
this day after
2 years. However, I have found that my market stalled locally
and I then
realized that I needed to expand. I then began a web page, learning
as I
went. I listed myself on almost every available freelance directory.
The one
I found the most successful for me was eLance.com. I started
doing research
for some of the staff of eLance and things went from there. I
now have
clients all over the world -- Japan, Bulgaria, California, Texas,
Florida,
Massachusetts, British Columbia, and Ontario. All of my contact
is either
online or by phone. Work is delivered either online or fax.
5. Any additional comments are
welcome.
I have the best of both worlds.
I have a successful small business and I get
to be there at home with my son. Also, fyi, I have found the
free services
of Bigstep.com a terrific way to build an online business. When
I started
developing my webpage, I used Geocities and learned html skills
as I went as
I am self taught in all of my computer skills. My site with geocities
is:
http://www.geocities.com/hmckinnon.
I then discovered Bigstep.com. They have
been more than helpful and I have found that my business took
off after
starting with them. Everything is step by step. If you have a
problem with
anything, they respond to you within a day. Their URL is:
http://www.bigstep.com
_____________________________________
EP EXPERT Q&As
Have a question? Our EP Expert
Panel is available to all EPnews Subscribers.
Visit them at <http://en-parent.com/experts.com>.
If your question isn't
already answered on our site, then send it in to: experts@en-parent.com.
They'll be glad to help you out if they can!
Q. Dear Joe,
I'm a work-at-home mother of
three. My two older children (ages 12 and 14)
are currently public school students, and they have expressed
a desire to
remain in their schools. However, I do plan to homeschool my
three-year-old
daughter and her younger siblings.
My daughter is a bright, energetic,
and inquisitive child. She enjoys music,
having stories read to her, and playing in her sandbox. We haven't
started
any formal training with her, yet, and even when we do, I don't
plan to have
a completely structured, classroom-type of schooling. I expect
that I will
start with an hour or so of structured book lessons and increase
by an hour
for each grade/age level. Other than that, I plan to use real-life
lessons,
like measuring cookie ingredients for building math skills and
planting seeds
for science skills.
So, I guess my question isn't
so much what to do, as when. My daughter can
already sing her alphabet, has some letter recognition, can count
to ten (if
we remind her to start with one), knows all of her colors, and
will even
color in the lines sometimes. Everything she has learned, to
date, has been
in an informal setting. We aren't doing any structured lessons
at all, yet.
When is a good time to start
formal lessons? I'm hoping that I have a few
more years before I have to begin, but in the event that she
must go to
school, I don't want her to be behind the other children her
age. Is there a
test to gauge her readiness for a more formal training regimen?
Thank you,
Maine Mom
A. Hi Maine Mom,
The most important thing is to
find out what the laws are in Maine to be sure
that you are in compliance with the law. You may want to check
out the local
support groups in your area for ideas.
With respect to your curriculum,
there are many schools of thought on how you
should structure what you do. Since your teenage children are
not going to be
homeschooled, your three year old is a much easier task. You
seem like an
engaged person, and in fact, have already been home educating
your daughter
since birth.
Just as a convenient starting
point, we have some interesting ideas at:
http://www.homeschoolzone.com/faq/faq4.htm
where we have an interview with
author, columnist and speaker Linda Dobson,
who has a whole book on home education at the "Early Years"
level. It will
help you build just a little bit of structure which will allay
some of your
concerns.
Don't worry too much about structure
though. I think that Linda Dobson sums
it up when she says, "I've always felt flexibility was a
secret to
homeschooling's success....It's time homeschooling's benefits
(and their
reasons) are understood so that as many children and families
as possible can
experience them!"
We also have a very interesting
book from June Oberlander called "Slow and
Steady, Get Me Ready" which actually has a week-by-week
learning program from
birth to age 5. The interview is there as well where she discusses
how young
children learn.
Another place I would look is
at a wonderful book written by Mariaemma
Willis, M.S., and Victoria Kindle Hodson, M.A., entitled "Discover
Your
Child's Learning Style" which has a wonderful step-by-step
guide where you
can see your child's strengths and weaknesses in different areas
of
intellect. Victoria Hodson stresses the importance of being a
good coach.
She says, "Coaches identify and build upon strengths. By
assessing the five
aspects of learning style you will find out your child's strengths,
and then
we help you learn how to work with your child and build upon
them." The rest
of the interview is at:
http://www.homeschoolzone.com/hsz/willishodson.htm
Good luck on your journey. Remember
you have already been educating your
child since birth and you will probably do a better job than
anyone else, no
matter what anyone else may tell you. Please feel free to stop
by and join
our support communities.
Joe
=====
Joe Spataro, our EP Homeschooling Expert, is Founder of the Homeschool
Zone
(www.homeschoolzone.com)
and Families-First.com (www.families-first.com).
You
can learn more about Joe at his EP Bio page:
http://en-parent.com/Experts/exp-spataro.htm
__________________________________________
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING AT EP?
1. EP Teleseminar.
Want to work at home but not
sure what you can do? Then join us as Nancy
Collamer, an EP Expert and Coach, conducts our first Teleseminar
for aspiring
EPs entitled, "How to Find the Perfect Home Career for You."
Our EP Home
Career Counseling inquiries indicate that finding a legitimate
and rewarding
home career is the most difficult challenge for new EPs. If you
may be one,
come join us in September & register now!
To learn more &/or register,
go to:
http://en-parent.com/seminar.htm
2. Membership Automation (!!)
Our membership automation is
now complete!! Many thanks to deB for all her
hard work and dedication to help make this happen. Come take
a look at:
http://en-parent.com/directory
And all members are invited and
encouraged to update your listings at:
http://www.en-parent.com/links2/cgi-bin/add3.cgi
Don't be left out of this excellent
and far-reaching referral tool -- readers
and new members often tell us that when they're in need of a
product or
service they'd prefer to turn to a fellow EP over a Fortune 500
company any
day!
3. deB on leave
deB, Co-Founder of The Entrepreneurial
Parent and webmaster of the site, has
officially taken her leave of absence. She has done a spectacular
job
revamping the site and we hope you're very pleased with the results.
Please
join me now in wishing deB all the very best as she "refocuses"
on her family
and helps them make the life transitions that are around the
bend for all of
us. And remember, if you'd ever like to reach deB or send her
a personal
message of support -- she's just an email away at deB@en-parent.com.
~____~_~____~_~____~_~____~_~____~_~_____~
...AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR...
Trying to balance work and family?
Join us at OrganizedU for interactive
telephone classes conducted by experienced instructors. Discover
your
personal organizing style, learn how to manage a home office,
reorganize file
systems, or how to become a professional organizer.
OrganizedU: Your Key to Organizing
Success
http://www.organizedu.com/training.htm
_____________________________
OTHER STUFF!
For an interesting read (not
re: EPs!), check out this piece about an Iranian
Christian convert in the Wall Street Journal's European edition
-- thought
some of you may find this story compelling...
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=50000030
_____________________________
CONTACT/SUBSCRIPTION INFO
The Entrepreneurial Parent, LLC
is not engaged in rendering legal or
financial advice. If expert assistance is required, the services
of a
licensed professional should be sought.
This newsletter may be redistributed
freely via the Internet. Re-publishing
of separate articles for your print publication needs approval
first; write
to: Roberts@en-parent.com
for permission.
© 2000, The Entrepreneurial
Parent, LLC
Editor: Lisa M. Roberts
POB 320722, Fairfield, CT 06432; http://en-parent.com
Ph/Fax: (203) 371-6212, Email: office@en-parent.com
Community email addresses:
Subscribe: EPnews-subscribe@onelist.com
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