- ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
-
- EPnews -- from The Entrepreneurial
Parent
a work-family resource for home-based entrepreneurs
@ www.en-parent.com
- Volume 2, Issue 3
January 13, 1999
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Do you find EPnews useful?
Please forward to a friend, or recommend it to your favorite
Web site or
e-zine. Thanks for your support!
For easy reading, simply print
out this newsletter.
- _______________CONTENTS_______________
The Funny Things EP Kids Say!
EP Times -- An Editorial
What's It Worth?
Making Money Matters
- ***Promotional Opp for EPs***
EP Q&A
We Recommend
What's Happening at EP
New Membership Options
_________________________________________
Note to New Subscribers: EPnews
is published and distributed on the second
and fourth Wednesday of every month. The Entrepreneurial Parent
at
http://www.en-parent.com
is updated every weekend; look for new content on
Mondays.
___________________________________
THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY!
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber,
Joyce Melton Pages of KidBibs International (http://www.kidbibs.com)
who also submitted a question for today's Q&A:
=====
Even though we pack school backpacks and get clothes ready the
night
before, there's still usually a lot of scrambling in the morning.
With my
9-year-old daughter already eating breakfast, my 7 1/2-year-old
son was
fumbling with his shoes. I told him to hurry and get his shoes
on or he
wouldn't have time to eat. His sweet eyes looked up at me and
asked,
"Mommy, are we late?" I said, "No, not yet. I'm
just trying to keep you on
track." With more compliance than this typically spirited
attorney-in-training can usually muster he said, "That's
what mommies are
for. To keep us on track."
As I directed him to the table,
my daughter to the bathroom to brush her
teeth, and helped my husband load his late-night work materials
in the car,
I thought my son was right on target. Now, if only I could do
the same for
myself...
=====
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:
[email protected] with the subject heading "A Funny
Thing My EP Kid
Said (or Did)". 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" @ http://en-parent.com/familybooks.htm.
On those
stressed-out EP days, you'll be glad you did!
______________________________________
EP TIMES
-- AN EDITORIAL
"A New Year, A New Light"
© 1999 by Lisa Roberts
The above copyright has changed
from 8 to 9 and I, for one, am glad of it.
For those of you who shared a wearisome 1998, either personally
or
professionally, here's to turning the bend. And for those of
you who
enjoyed a fun and prosperous 1998, here's to the thrill of another
365-day
ride on the EP roller coaster.
Of course, there's nothing like
having a January baby to replenish the new
year with an even greater splash than the norm. Actually, my
"baby" is
turning three (on the 21st), so this is probably the very last
year I can
say "January baby." (I am allowing myself to say baby
because he is still
in diapers and a crib, but only for the next 8 days...!) I can't
say it
seems like only yesterday when I was pregnant with him because
it seems
like A HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!
In three years, my then toddler
has become a kindergartener, my then
kindergartener is gulping down Hardy Boy Books by the dozen,
my then third-
grader is now dabbling a little perfume on before her "Neon
Nights" (the
town's monthly teen gala event), and my then infant is now saying,
"Mommy,
pewt your na'kin on your yap." In looking at photos of the
pregnancy and
then glancing at the face in the mirror, I'm convinced all one
hundred
years have shown up (think "Picture of Dorian Gray").
Gratefully, when I
look at the faces on my children I see only three more years
on theirs.
As for the entrepreneurial end
of things, a clip from my book echoes some
present sentiments:
"It has been a full year
since I started writing the original draft of this
manuscript. My youngest was conceived alongside this book and
the two have
grown within me like healthy twins, persistant and vibrant and
unified.
While I have given birth to one I await the arrival of the other,
the first
who offers me sweet peace while his "twin" competes
for attention. It's as
if the past nine years of parenthood-tug-career-tug-parenthood-tug-career
has peaked in this moment as my family holds on, strong and steady.
We are
challenged, but we unite. We hold on. And like my first, my last
leads the
way with a sparkle and a faith only a gift from heaven can provide."
In reflecting on all that has
happened since that writing, as my little
sparkle is about to turn three, I am struck by how bright and
direct his
light has turned out to be. At the time of Thomas's birth, I
felt torn
between being a parent and a professional as never before. The
work-family
conflict was truly at its peak. Having a book published was the
culmination
of a life dream, it was almost a validation of who I was and
who I always
have been. At the same time, having a fourth child was the culmination
of
another lifedream, one I shared with my husband and other family
members.
To add pleasure and pressure onto pleasure and pressure, we were
also
house-hunting back then.
And yet this past year was even
more stressful than the one in which my
"baby" was born. As mentioned in the last EPnews issue,
we lost a dear and
special family member in 1998, my father. But through his innocence,
charm,
and here-and-now needs, Thomas has pulled my focus towards him
through it
all, as only a baby could. Through the triumphs and let-downs
of book
publishing, the good-byes and hellos of a family move, the excitement
and
hard work of a new partnership and business start-up, the inexpressible
grief of a death in the family, my baby's light has been there
to shine
steady and consistent for me.
As the youngest, Thomas has no
one to pass the torch onto. He will enter
the stage of young boyhood and this time I will not be replenished
by
newborn parenthood again. Yet something tells me my little sunbeam
will
never be dulled. As we embark on a new year together as a strong
community
of "entrepreneurial parents," may each of us keep our
focus on the sparkles
in our lives. Their light is ever-ready, through the turbulence
and the
calm, quick to shine and lead the way. All we have to do on our
end is keep
the faith.
=====
Lisa Roberts is the mother of four, Co-Founder of The Entrepreneurial
Parent and the author of "How to Raise A Family & A
Career Under One Roof:
A Parent's Guide to Home Business." For more info on her
book, go to
<<http://en-
parent.com/bkinfo.htm>>
_____________________________________
WHAT'S
IT WORTH?
- "New Year, New Ideas"
- by deB Sechrist
You've started the new year right
by noting your car's mileage, organizing
your desk and files, pulling together your receipts for the taxes
and
updating your Rolodex, right? OK I'll admit it, I'm still in
the process of
doing all that, hopefully I'll be caught up soon. But in looking
at the end
result of the last year, I see that I still could use some help
making the
most of our family's income. And frankly, I'm fresh out of ideas
for the
moment! So I did a little surfing and came up with a list of
some helpful
websites that will inspire even the most experienced frugal pros.
Check
them out and you just might find some gems to help make those
1999
resolutions come true!
Sites with tips:
Tightwad Tidbits: http://pages.prodigy.net/nikki98422/
Tight-Wadding with Doris O'Connell:
http://pages.prodigy.com/frugal_tightwad/pg2.htm
Newsletters and Books:
Frugal Budget Booster Newsletter: http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~kspinney/
Frugal Family Network: http://www.frugalfamilynetwork.com/
Tighwad Booklist: http://pages.prodigy.com/frugal_tightwad/dorbooks.htm
Loads of Links to helpful frugal
living sites:
F.E.M.A.L.E. 's Penny Pinching links:
http://femalehome.org/Penny
Pinching Budget Bargains.htm
Frugal Corner: http://www.best.com/~piner/index.html
Miserly Moms - Frugal Links: http://www.miserlymoms.com/MOMflinks.htm
Nannie's Little Pages of Info: My Frugal Page:
http://www.covco.com/nannie/frugal.html
Happy Surfing!
=====
deBorah Sechrist is the mother of three, Co-Founder of The Entrepreneurial
Parent and owner of deBweB, a web design business. Find out more
about deB
at http://www.en-parent.com/webdsn.htm.
____________________________________________
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 week
Cheryl
Sandberg of SBD Web Design shares her marketing tips with us.
You can reach
Cheryl at [email protected].
If you'd like to share your money-making
tips with the EP Community, email
"[email protected]" w/ the Subject: "Making
$$," and we'll send you our
survey.
1. What is your home business?
I have a professional web site
design business. We specialize in small
business introductions to the World Wide Web. I help business
owners
broaden their base and advertise world wide.
2. What are the most popular
products and/or services you sell? How much do
you sell them for, or what is your fee schedule, and how did
you come up
with these rates?
On average, a new client hires
me for about a $300 web site. This is
usually a 3-4 page web site with their own logo, pictures, and
descriptions
of products, with possible credit card capability (of course,
I have smaller
and large packages as well).
When I first started my business,
I knew I wanted to stay more price
competitive than the average web designer so I could cater to
small
businesses. I researched the market on the Internet to establish
my prices
by comparing the prices of other web designers. I came up with
fees of
approximately $75 per page and about $25 an hour for updates,
which I feel
is a fairly competitive rate.
3. What are *your* favorite products
and/or services? Why do you like to
sell them?
I really enjoy selling the larger
web site packages. I know that when a
customer invests in a large web site, he or she is really serious
about his
or her online possibilities. I know that I can create what they
REALLY need
for their business without limiting them to one or two ideas.
We can create
online credit card capability, an online catalog, or a comprehensive
view
of their business. I enjoy larger sites because of the creative
possibilities. It makes designing more fun.
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 your
orders come in
(via online, phone, fax, mail, face-to-face)?
When starting my business, I
was concerned about the cost of advertising. I
wanted to make extra money, not spend my way into oblivion! But
I was ready
to do some advertising. I checked around with other web designers
to see
what they thought was the greatest return on the advertisement
dollar for
Internet web designers. The consensus was that in our business,
no fancy
yellow page ads or costly newspaper ads would be as good as person
to
person contact between the web designer and the owner of the
small
business. To this day, 90% of my business comes as a result of
entering a
store, possibly making a purchase, and then talking briefly with
the owner
of the store about how important web sites can be to even small
local
businesses. After this initial encounter, I'll wait a few days
and send a
personal letter to the owner of the store, stating how much I
enjoyed
talking with him or her and thanking them for their time. I'll
then send my
package prices and my business card and let them know that I
would enjoy
doing business with them.
It's all a numbers game. I know
that some will and some won't; all I have
to do is find the ones that will.
5. Any additional comments are
welcome.
I was talking to a friend the
other day. She was discussing the possibility
of her going back to work outside the home. I have no desire
to EVER go
back to work for an employer. I never again want to beg a boss
for 'this
Thursday off' or apologize for an extra 3 minutes at lunch time.
I want to
turn my business off and on when I want to. I love having full
control over
how much I work. I make the decisions on how much to charge,
what to give
away for free, and who to do web sites for. I can play with my
kids
whenever I want. I can help in my first grader's class whenever
they need
me. And I can spend the afternoon at the park with my 2 year
old. I have
the best of both worlds as a work at home mom.
I also want to say thank you
to Lisa and Deb at the Entrepreneurial Parent.
I love your web site and Lisa's book. It's the closest thing
to a 'water
cooler' that I have in my sometimes solitary business.
Cheryl Sandberg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SBD Web Design
http://www.sbdcalif.com
See me on PBS, Computer Chronicles -- the week of Jan 25!
Check your local listings for exact day and time.
_____________________________________
EP Q&As
Have a question? It may already
be answered in 1 of the 16 EP Expert Q&A
pages now up and running! Check them out at
http://en-parent.com/experts.com
(follow the "Q&A" links). If your question
isn't answered there, then send it to: [email protected].
We'll be glad
to help you out if we can!
=====
Q. Dear EP,
Our web site, KidBibs.com, is
devoted to helping children become good
readers, writers and learners. I'm in my fifth month of operation
on-line.
I'm just starting to move toward getting advertising but I don't
know what
the advertising rates are for web sites. Could you give me a
range of rates
for ads, so I'm not too low and not totally out-of-sight. FYI,
my hit count
for last week was 17,857 -- how does hit count play into the
calculation of
an ad rate? -- Joyce Melton Pages
A. Advertising rates are measured
in cpm -- cost per thousand (the m comes
from the Roman numeral for 1,000, M). I like to think in terms
of
advertising "units." If you could display 18,000 banners
a week, then you
have eighteen1,000-banner units; multiply your cpm by 18 units
to get your
total income. For instance, if you sell ads at a cpm of $30,
multiply 30 x
18 to get the total income -- $540.
However, you only say that you
have 17,857 "hits." What do you mean by
that? Strictly speaking a hit is a single transfer of information;
each
time a page is transferred, that's a hit -- but each time an
image is
transferred, or even an error message of some kind, that's a
hit, too. So
do you mean you have 17,857 page views, or do you really mean
hits. If you
do mean hits, then you have far fewer page views, and so you'll
be able to
display far fewer ads.
Next, how do you intend to sell
ads, and how do you determine a price? A
good way to start is by signing up with an ad network such as
Flycast or
DoubleClick. Such companies can help you pick a price, and will
sell the
advertising for you; you have to place the appropriate HTML tags
into your
pages, and their software keeps track of it all.
Flycast provides a great way
to get a feel for what other people are
charging. Sign up for an account to buy advertising, and install
their
software. Then you can view information about scores of other
advertisers
-- you can read their media kits, and view their prices.
As for coming up with ad rates
if you have an electronic newsletter, the
best way to figure those out is to find out what other newsletters
are
charging. Rates can vary from a buck or two per thousand (as
low as around
50 cents, actually), to perhaps $35 or $45 per thousand. The
more highly
targeted and the more valuable the readership, the higher the
rates.
Peter Kent
=====
Peter Kent is the author of 34 computer and business books, including
the
best-selling "Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet"
and "Poor Richard's
Web Site: Geek-Free, Commonsense Advice on Building a Low-Cost
Web Site."
To learn more about Peter's work or to ask him a question, go
to
<<http://en-parent.com/Experts/exp-kent.htm>>
_____________________________________
WE RECOMMEND
We recently updated our links
page and suggest the following sites to check
out (some are the work of fellow EPs):
MarketSTART, a web/copywriting
consulting firm that offers a free web-based
zine called "The WebSuccess Journal," at http://www.infowriter.com
PedagoNet, an innovative search
engine that facilitates the exchange of
learning resources, at http://www.infowriter.comhttp://www.infowriter.com/
Childproofing USA, Inc., an Internet
business that sells child safety
products, at http://www.childproofing.com
A Family Thing, an upcoming web
resource focused on family life -- one to
watch!, at http://www.afamilything.com
Telecommuting Safety & Health
Benefits Institute, a non-profit organization
dedicated to saving lives, reducing injuries and improving health
by
encouraging the increased use of telecommuting, at
http://orednet.org/venice/rick/telecommutesafe.htm.
Comedy Coach, for all of you
EPs who secretly want to be stand-up
comedians...here's a coach for you!, at http://www.comedycoach.com
_____________________________________
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT EP
What's truly unique about The
Entrepreneurial Parent and the EP Community
is that we are all in the process of launching and growing our
businesses
together. In the four short months that we have officially opened
EP "for
business," we are learning as much or more from all of you
as you may be
learning from us. While the two of us (Lisa and deB) have been
sole
proprietors of various businesses for a number of years, this
Internet
business is new for us. For instance, today's featured Q&A
was a sharp
question and really hit home. What IS the value of our web site
in terms of
advertising dollars? If what Peter answers is true (as I trust
it is!),
then we're in pretty decent shape -- we're taking in between
162,000 and
240,000 page views (over a million "hits") per month!
So on our agenda in the first
quarter of this new year, we plan to
concentrate on attracting advertisers and sponsors to our web
site. Look
for banner ads on our site soon...(let's hope!)
Meanwhile, the taping of our
featured "Making Money Matters" EP Member,
Cheryl Sandberg, by the camera crew of Computer Chronicles, is
happening
RIGHT NOW (today, 1/13/99)! As mentioned in our last EPnews issue,
Computer
Chronicles is a PBS program that airs in 300 stations around
the world and
in over 80% of U.S. households. They have chosen to put the spotlight
on
"Entrepreneurial Parents" in general and on our site
in particular. The
segment is about how parents are using the Internet to become
better
parents, and they want to chronicle the work-at-home trend as
one way the
Internet is affecting everyday, mainstream family life. So again,
let's
send Cheryl some positive vibes so she and her family can get
through the
day in a fun and truly memorable way!
TO SEE CHERYL SANDBERG ON TV:
Go to: <<http://www.cmptv.com/computerchronicles/>>
to check Station
Listings in your state for exact day and time. The show airs
the week of
January 25th.
____________________________________
NEW MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS
Many of you who have recently
registered as a member of the EP Community
have told us that you are interested in meeting EPs in your local
community, that you would like to attend business seminars specifically
addressing EPs, and that you'd be happy to receive a print version
of
EPnews in your snail mail box. After much deliberation, we have
decided The
Entrepreneurial Parent is ready to make the leap into "real-time!"
We are very pleased to announce
the formation of the Entrepreneurial
Parents Association, an Association of EPs who get to meet in
"real-time"
and enjoy the membership benefits of a traditional business organization
--
and for modest annual dues ($45 for the first year or $60 for
two years,
$25 upon renewal thereafter).
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
SPECIAL EPNEWS SUBSCRIBER DISCOUNT RATE:
Get in as an EPnews Charter Member
of NAEP and you'll receive a 25%
discount off membership dues! That's just $33.75 for the first
year, or $45
for a 2-year membership. (Orders must come in before May 1, 1999
to get the
discount, and you must already be an EPnews subscriber BEFORE
ordering your
NAEP Charter Membership. Just add the line "I am an EPnews
Subscriber"
under the question "What would you like EP to offer, both
online and off"
on the application form <<http://en-parent.com/member2.htm>>,
so we can
apply the discount when we process your order. Only those orders
that
follow the above instructions will receive the EPnews Subscriber
Discount
Rate.)
We are so sure that membership
in the National Association of
Entrepreneurial Parents will meet (and hopefully exceed!) your
needs that
we are even offering a 30-day money-back guarantee on your membership
dues.
You have nothing to lose, so join today! Go to:
<<http://en-parent.com/member2.htm>>
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
Meanwhile....whether you plan
to join immediately or not, we could use your
feedback:
Vote for your favorite Association
Name ("EPA" is already taken by the
Environmental Protection Agency!):
GEPA - Global Entrepreneurial
Parents Association
or
NEPA - National Entrepreneurial Parents Association
or
EPAA - Entrepreneurial Parents Association of America
or
__________________________________
Submit another name!!
(Copy your favorite name above,
hit return, and submit your vote. Thank you!)
To learn more about what the
EP Association will have to offer you, go to:
http://en-parent.com/EPA.htm. In the meantime, many thanks for
your
wonderful expressions of support for The Entrepreneurial Parent
during
these past four months!
___________________________
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: [email protected] for permission.
© 2000, The Entrepreneurial
Parent, LLC
Editor: Lisa M. Roberts
EP Webmaster: Deborah Sechrist
POB 320722, Fairfield, CT 06432; http://en-parent.com
Ph:/Fax: (203) 371-6212, Email: [email protected]
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