Calling All Businesswomen and Mompreneurs!

So, I started a new networking group on Facebook. 

A teacher by training and by nature, I have wanted someplace I could create a library of information for women that is easy to navigate, is truly helpful and then draw on the network's collective experience and knowledge to add to that library.  Yes, it's a business network, so we will be promoting our businesses to the public, however it's not a place to gain customers from among the members.  I have found, being part of other networking groups, that there really seems to be a need for a group where women can learn and up their business game, especially if you have no prior business experience or background.  But sometimes, the fire of passion is enough---everything else can be learned. 

Come, Learn, Teach, Build and Uplift!  

Phoenix Networking:

 Sometimes the Fire of Passion is Enough.  

Everything Else Can Be Learned. 

phoenixnetwork@groups.facebook.com

Awesome Freebies: Fonts Galore

If you aren't a part of LinkedIn, you should be!  They have tons of great groups!  Scratch My Back....For Marketers and Graphic Design Professionals is a font (tee hee) of information.

Today, I saw that someone had posted a link to Success Secrets of Graphic Design Superstars, for the article 20+ Fresh and Free Fonts for Your Design.  Pretty awesome when you stumble upon (wow, I am full of them today, aren't I?) a cache of fonts that can be downloaded and added to your personal store of tools.  Sure, you can create your own, but really?  Typography (font design) is a niche in graphic design, a specialty.  It takes time to do.  Do I tweak a few letters to make a text logo custom? Sure. But do I create a whole alphabet plus symbols from scratch? Um. No. At least, not yet.  I'm eager to get into Typography but right now, that's not in my skill set.  So for me, anything that can expand my toolbox to enable me to literally create whatever I want is tops in my book!

Enjoy perusing these, even if you aren't a graphic designer!

Just Say "No": Don't Be Spammy!

I have a huge pet peeve as a user of social media:  Don't be spammy.  It's bad for the Facebook business environment. 

This includes (but is not limited to):

1. Liking someone's page and then announcing on the business's page that you've liked them and to please like your page.  Yuck. My page is not a billboard for other businesses.  I created my page to create a community for my customers, a place to communicate with them about MY business. 

I monitor my page.  If you have liked it, I will see that and investigate.  Common business courtesy dictates I return the favor, which I typically do. 

The other thing you can do is post on my page *as your business*, which also allows me to investigate you directly.  Say something chipper and kind, such as, "Hi! Visiting from such and such a page" or "Found your page via such and such a group!"  Leave a compliment.  Like breadcrumbs, I'll be sure to follow it back to the source! 

All excellent examples of the proper way to get a business to like your page back!

 2. Posting about your page on my PERSONAL page without my permission.  That gets deleted automatically. 

3. The latest in crass self-promotion: Posting a nice long comment about your business on another business's page (or on my personal page!!) and then LIKING your own comment! A friend of mine says "It's like shaking your own hand!"  Don't do that. Please. I'm begging you. 

4. Sending me a message, personal, or now, a message via my business page, detailing how wonderful your business is and attaching all sorts of  links.  That reminds me of a door-to-door salesman.  Again, if you kindly like my page, I'll return the favor.  No need to point it out to me. I'm on it! ;)

All of these things are the equivalent of junk mail.  It's unwanted solicitation.  Additionally, this creates an immediate bad impression of your business.  In my humble, common-courtesy-crazed-opinion, it makes you and your business look unprofessional.  And I know that's not what you want!

You want your page to circulate almost of its own accord, due to fantastic word of mouth and enthusiastic reviews.  Keep this in mind:  "likes" in and of themselves do not mean anything.  What counts is how active your fans are, whether or not your posts are getting shared and what your insights say about visits and reach.

But no worries!! I'm here to help!


Next Time: What are GOOD uses of Facebook: How to Help Your Business Page Get Around

Enabling Businesses to Get Their Bling

I've noticed, as a Business-to-Business provider of services (B2B), that many businesses are started by stay-at-moms (SAHM---yeah, I like the acronyms!).  These are women trying to help their family when their income has been reduced, when they have become the sole providers, when it is not cost-effective to pay 80% of their paychecks to childcare providers, when they are single mothers and can't seem to find a job (this girl, right here!) and/or they are trying to follow their passion.

I can sympathize.

So, in the vein of "do unto others...",  I am offering two ways to make getting what you want for your business--and paying for it--that. Much. Easier.

What happens when you're creating a product but have no idea how to create a Facebook icon for your page?  How the heck do you link your Facebook page to your Etsy store?  And is Twitter even NECESSARY??

Raise your hand if you've been there and done that.  Yeah.  Me too.  You know no one's going to want to buy your services if you don't look like you're a legit business, and that means having a presence on the web.  A real, cohesive, with-your-very-own-color-scheme-like-a-big-kid, people can recognize it a mile away with a logo and everything presence.  (In the design and marketing world, we call this branding, by the way.)  Think....Coca-Cola.  Think Skittles.  Think Smuckers.  (Sorry, I'm hungry!).  Ok, how about Facebook?!  You'd know that company anywhere just by a single lowercase "f"---now that's a brand hard at work and successful to boot!

Seems overwhelming, doesn't it?  Seems like it's something shiny in the distance, maybe even an oasis.  You certainly can't be worried about that right now!! You need to produce your product! You need to create an Etsy store or an It's On Me Gifts store!  You need to figure out how to budget and create reports!  You need to have business cards and an email signature!  How the HECK do you pick a FB cover photo let alone get it uploaded??  Right? Right?!

Ok, so we've established you need help.  Helps' expensive, though, right?

Well, if you do it right and you get professional help (not that kind....although after a few months, you may feel like you need that too!) it can be.  You get what you pay for.

So after much thought, I decided, Siostra can help.  We can do our part.  Small business is going to save the country and all that.

Zenobia's Sweet Tooth: One of our clients.

That being said: 

NOW OFFERING Bartering and Payment Plans. 

We are willing to accept, upon approval, up to 30% of the total amount owed in bartered products or services or ad space (Must have a certain number of visitors per month to your site/blog for us to agree to this.).  So, for example, our logo design is $250 to start (which, if you google it at all, you'll find is very reasonable!) and 30% of that is $75.  So, I'd accept $75 in whatever it is you're selling.  Tutus.  Necklaces.  Hair-bobs, as we call them.  Cupcakes are good too.  Wouldn't turn down most food products.  I mean, a girl's gotta eat, right?  OR in other services---massages and facials are always welcome!

The remaining balance of $175 could then be broken down into 3 monthly payments of $58.33.
Completely reasonable, right? 

Now, how can we do this?  Well, it involves a lot of trust on our part. It's called doing business at the Speed of Trust, which, in case you didn't know is pretty dang fast!  But to protect ourselves at least a little, you will see samples but will not get a final product until we've gotten at least one payment and the details have been worked out to receive your product or services.  I think that's reasonable, yes?

For more information, please feel free to contact us at siostramarketing (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Kleasures: My FIRST Bottle Label Designs!!

So the wonderful Kathleen, part of the MD Girls Just Wanna Have Fans group, has created her own bath and body line called Kleasures.  And she asked ME to design the labels! I am so excited to work on this project!! Here are the samples she had to choose from:

Which samples do you like and why? Which one do you think Kathleen picked? :)

Don't forget, we're also on Facebook.  And clicking "like" is so quick and easy!! You can do so within the box on the right there, without even leaving our page. :) 

Testing, 1, 2, 3, Testing.....

I would LOVE to be able to showcase some animated GIF's I did for Fresh Fiction, however, everything I try to upload them on disables them! (Yeah, Facebook, I'm lookin' at YOU!)  Let's see how Blogger feels about them:

 

I'll tell ya how Blogger feels: it feels like you need a closer look!  Please do CLICK on the GIFs and see a larger view that IS in fact animated! YAY!  10 LaLa Points for you, Blogger! Good work! 

That looks so awesome, I think I'll add two more....

What's Your Style?

You know I have several other blogs, right? [insert shameless plug here]  I designed LaLa Land, tea & ink, Frugal Blog Make-Overs and of course, this blog. You can actually see the evolution of my skills as you look at them!  LaLa Land, I used a freebie background, added text to a pre-made header and then fashioned my own sidebar headers (on the right) and what I call "badges" for identifying different types of posts.   My social media icons I fashioned from digi-scraps, but more on that below.

When I discovered flickr.com and commercial use photography, I went a little nuts on tea & ink, trying my hand at my developing Photoshop skills, but still using a freebie background.  This time I created my own header from scratch, using cut-out photos, as well as matching sidebar headers, social media icons that were freebies and post badges.

For Frugal Blog, I had stumbled across digital scrapbooking (which, in case you didn't know, is not unlike crack----this was pre-Pinterest of course) and teamed up with wonderful scrap designer Vesi to create my own background, title header, sidebar headers, social media icons and yes, post badges.

Not only does this showcase how my creative curiosity leads my skills curve, it also illustrates that I am still hungry to learn.  This is important, for everyone really but especially for a creative.  Every project needs its own flair, its own personality, color palette and voice.  It also gives me a bigger, deeper well to draw from; it stretches and keeps limber my creativity muscles.

As for Siostra's blog, I am very fortunate that I know one Su Smith, of Star Sunflower Studio who is a prolific designer that contributes so much in the way of freebies for commercial use, it's crazy!  She is an awesome colleague and friend, without whom, Siostra's logo (and blog) would not be what it is today.  See what you can accomplish when you work together? ;)

What are your talents, obsessions and loves?