Mom, Dad... Is Santa Claus real?

'The Santa Secret' is a book
that shares the truth
about Santa Claus

They say that the best product ideas are solutions to real life problems. Well I had a problem when my oldest asked, "Mom, Dad, is Santa Claus real?" I was so careful how I crafted my reply because I didn't want all the magical memories to melt into disappointment upon him hearing "the truth."

Well, our little talk went so well, I decided to write a column about it. I got so many emails from moms and dads asking for copies of the column and thanking me for writing it that I decided to put my little Santa secret into a book. "The Santa Secret" was born. 

 

The nut of the book is that children transition from "believing" in Santa, to "becoming" Santa. The first part of the book tells parents to set the scene for the big talk. The middle of the book is the story itself, in which the secret is shared. The last part of the book is for the entire family and talks about how to keep the magic alive.



I published the book on lulu.com. It sells for $14.67 for the paperback (color pics) and $25.54 for the hard cover.  It's a good idea to be "armed" with it when the big question arises.

Spa gift cards are the new gift basket

Several years ago I read that gift cards to spas had become the new gift basket for executives. I mean, really... cheese and crackers or, say, coconut oil and the skilled hands of a professional masseuse?  I know which I'd rather be gifted with.

Monica Kenyon, founder
of UNWINDMobileSpa.com

But here's a twist - and something I might even prefer. The masseuse comes to you! It's the brainchild of Founder Monica Kenyon: UNWIND Mobile Spa. The spa professionals pack it up and bring the party to you, to your office, to your bridesmaids' party or your hotel suite.

What a fabulous, and novel, gift idea for the holidays. Beats a cheese log any day.

Getting your business to the next level

What is the single thing you believe would take your business to the next level? The overwhelming answer, according to women responding to the "Share YOUR Women-Owned Business Story" currently underway, hosted by Wobwire.com, is this: MARKETING.

More results will be released once the survey is complete. To get a copy of the survey results, give us your input. We'll make sure to send you the report. 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZPSRVNB

I'm so grateful

As I typed the headline to this blog: "I'm so grateful," you'd expect I'd follow that with something about Thanksgiving, since this Thursday is the big day.  Nada.  While I have many reasons to be grateful (and I will share those with my family at our Thanksgiving table), this forum is all about women business owners.  This blog acknowledges them.

In just one week, we are nearly 2/3 of the way to our goal for the number of completed surveys for Wobwire.com's "Share Your Woman-Owned Business" project.  Between the number of my own contacts that replied to my personal request to take a few minutes to participate, to the women business owners from the other side of the country whom I do not know, I can't believe how much help I've received to promote the survey link!

I swear, ask your women friends for help and they'll be there for you. My friends have tweeted and posted and their friends have tweeted and posted and as a result, in just one week, we've gathered input from 60 women business owners that will be shared with the media and other WOBs. My goal is to garner 100 surveys, so hopefully this week we'll achieve that. My intention is to draw attention to the amazing things women business owners are doing, net them a little media attention, and submit the findings of our survey for use in programs that fund and support WOBs.

So, thank you to all of you - those I know and those I can't wait to get to know!

And, if you haven't taken the survey, please do so now!  If you have, please share the link with your network of women business owner contacts.

Thank you!

And the winner is...

Marcy McKenna, a mom inventor from Newport Beach, CA, won the top spot on the series premiere of Kelly Ripa's "Homemade Millionaire" on TLC.

I watched the entire show and was struck by one thing.  You can have a terrific idea, but if you don't have all the other stuff, it means nothing. You have to know how to PACKAGE, how to MARKET and how to SELL your idea. While the show followed the same format as Donald Trump's "Apprentice," and there were some pretty "scripted" segments, it kept my attention.

Congrats Marcy.

O.C. woman wins spot on 'Homemade Millionaire'

I blogged about the new show hosted by Kelly Ripa, Homemade Millionaire. The TLC show debuts this evening. The short version is that a few luck female entrepreneurs compete for a chance to have their product featured on the Home Shopping Network.

So, the finalists are narrowed down and come to find out that one is from right here in Orange County, CA!

I plan to watch the show. Do you?

Great stories are coming in! Tell us yours

Share YOUR Woman-Owned Business Story

A nod to the wonderful women business owners who have taken the time to answer a short Q&A about their businesses for Wobwire.com's Women-Owned Business Survey.  Among those who have replied so far are:

Joan Gladstone, Gladstone International
Tiffany Corbett, Girl ExtraOrdinaire
Melinda Stone, Welcome Express
Liz Schmidt, Organic and Healthy, Inc.
Sherry Nouraini, Captive Touch
Jeannine Smolinsky, Yoga Rocks!
Maria Bailey, BSM Media
Kimberly Dougherty, Birch Advisory Services International
Shann Vander Leek, True Balance Life Coaching
Adania Cornejo, ADANIAS Boutique
Diane Helbig, Seize This Day Coaching
Gerry Hardin, Xekeb (she-keb) Custom Sterling Silver Jewelry
Monica Kenyon, U N W I N D
Paula Guthrie, Bodacious Boutique
Lisa Rodriguez, Next Level Consulting & Virtual Assistance
Michele Scism, Decisive Minds, LLC
Angela Cortright, Spa Gregorie's
Janis Dinwiddie, Dinwiddie Events LLC
Cristina Robeck, Robeck Design
Melissa Hebert, LAXCarShare

Thank you all!  Here is the survey link for those of you who would like to share YOUR woman-owned business story:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZPSRVNB

Inspiration, times 13

Caterina Fake, profiled in Tang's
post on The Daily Beast

Need a nudge this morning?  Something to inspire you to take that idea you've been noodling over and actually do something with it? Then click on over to The Daily Beast and browse Joyce C. Tang's post about 13 Women Who Rule the Web. Their stories will motivate you.

I had trouble getting past the first profile on Caterina Fake. Among her accomplishments, she co-founded Flickr, which started as side project, according to Tang's story. What an amazing line of successes. And now she's an angel investor, now funding the great ideas of others.

And speaking of The Daily Beast ... Tina Brown, an idol of mine, is everywhere.  I was reading about her this morning on MediaBistro.com (The Daily Beast and Newsweek have merged!), and then glanced up to see her on ABC's "Good Morning America," chatting with George Stephanopoulos about Prince William and his bride-to-be. She is author of "The Diana Chronicles."

Kudos to Brown. She alone offers enough inspiration to get my day going.

Wall Street Journal article shows the importance of posting comments.

Comments may translate to cash

We all feel that original content is what will attract followers and, ultimately, increase sales. Content is king, after all.  Perhaps, though, in today's sea of social media, creating content isn't as important as commenting on those who do. So, maybe it's more correct to say, "Comments are king."

Wall Street Journal reporter Dennis Nishi illustrates this with his article on Shelley Davis who runs a hair-cair company from her Los Angeles apartment.  Rather than create her own product videos (multiply time by expense and hope for it to equal revenue), she began posting comments on the pages of those videos she found on the same subject.  According to Nishi, the home-based woman business owner saw a sales increase of 40%!

Even better, engage a vlogger (a blogger who delivers content through video), Nishi suggests, and you have third-party credibility that exceeds your own when touting your product or service.

So, just like you used to do when you set the timer and practiced the piano for 30-minutes a day, set aside a specific amount of time and post comments on blogs, articles and video that your customers are reading.

I plan to post a comment on Nishi's story right now!

Tell me YOUR woman-owned business story

Everyone has a story. (That's why Katie Couric's newscast features a segement by the same name.) I want to know yours. Here's why.

Wobwire.com, the newswire for women-owned business, is about to officially launch. As part of our grand opening, we are conducting a survey (stay with me here) that has great benefits for you, the woman business owner. Share YOUR woman-owned business story and you'll get a special promo code for 50% off of a news release submission on Wobwire.com. We'll send YOUR news to nearly 5,000 editors, journalists and bloggers; we'll tweet and post your news on Facebook; and your news will be archived on Wobwire.com permanently.

So take three minutes and share YOUR story.  Then pass this blog post to all the other women business owners you know!

Wobwire.com: BETA phase is almost complete!

Click here to visit Wobwire.com

After nearly one year in BETA phase, Wobwire.com, the newswire for women-owned business, is nearly ready for its full-scale launch!

Stay tuned for some exciting news about our new partnership, which is sure to provide the infrastructure we need to deliver this affordable newswire service to female entrepreneurs.

I personally invite you to take advantage of the last few weeks of our BETA phase and submit your news release to Wobwire.com now, for just $25. We'll post your news release on the site, as well as post links on Facebook and Twitter. The Wobwire.com RSS feed will be updated with YOUR headlines and links back to your story. Finally, we BLAST your news out to nearly 5,000 editors, journalists, bloggers and radio and TV producers.

The most exciting part of launching this venture is the opportunity for Wobwire.com to contribute to KIVA.org. If you've never been to this wonderful site, designed for you to provide micro loans to female entrepreneurs who are financially challenged (you are paid back), do check it out.

'Homemade Millionaire' capitalizes on rise of female entrepreneurs

You know there is critical mass in any given area of interest when TV producers decide to create a series about it. The end game, of course, is to sell ads to companies who want to reach the show's audience. Take, for example, "DC Cupcakes." I watched an entire hour of that show yesterday, and I'm not even a baker; just fascinated with the trend. But everyone and her sister has gotten into the cupcake business. Clearly there is a built-in audience for the show.

So, it's proof positive that women entrepreneurs have reached critical mass when a show like "Homemade Millionaire" makes its way into the lineup. Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos have teamed with HSN to create the show that debuts November 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.

Each one-hour episode will pit three female inventors against one another in a - you guessed it - series of "tasks" they must perform better than their counterparts. Why not? Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" is still running strong. Same concept. Different niche. And, frankly, a more desirable one. Advertisers are hungry to reach women who continue to make, or influence, at least 80% of all purchasing decisions. And with more than 10 million women business owners, there's the audience the show is trying to attract.

The cast, already selected from thousands of female inventor hopefuls, will be coached throughout the process by Kelly Ripa (I'd listen to her. She has successfully made herself into a marketable brand.) and other business experts. Celebrity judges including Emeril Lagasse (celebrity chef), Jennifer Flavin-Stallone (Sly's wife and a beauty entrepreneur) and Lori Bergamotto (Lucky magazine fashion editor), among others, will determine the winner. The woman selected will then be awarded the opportunity sell her products on-air and online through the $2 billion a year HSN.

"We are super excited to be working with TLC and HSN on this project," explains Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. "We're sent so many innovative products from women every day, and to be able to help them get into the marketplace is a dream come true for us. These inventors have worked so hard in this show. We're beyond proud of them."

It's likely that the overriding theme will be that you can have a great idea, but taking it to market is an entirely different thing.

I'll be watching.