WAHM Feature: Caroline Schafer and Moms On Vacation

WAHM Feature: Caroline Schafer and Moms On Vacation

Welcome to our first WAHM feature of 2010!

Meet Caroline Schafer of “Moms on Vacation”

caroline

This is what Caroline has to say about her business, and about being a Work At Home Mom:

I’m a work-at-home mom who lives in Vermont, USA.

The purpose of my business is to organize affordable mom vacations.

I created the Moms on Vacation Travel Club for all moms who need a break from their family.  It’s a place where moms can get free vacation planning for their mom group or they can decide to join one of our organized mom trips.  The Moms on Vacation Travel Club is owned and operated by Dream Escapes Travel, an independent travel consultant.

I love being a WAHM because it gives me the opportunity to spend more time with my kids and allows me to pursue one of my passions, which is travelling.  I also love to meet and network with other moms who offer great services and help other moms grow their on-line business.  I am always willing to promote other mom businesses that I feel offer valuable products or services.

Contact Details:

Caroline Schafer

Web:  Moms On Vacation Travel Club

Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/momsonvacation

Twitter Profile: www.twitter.com/momonvacation

From the Editor:

So if you WAHMS out there are in need of a vacation (raises own hand) here is your first point of contact for an awesome travel deal! If you’re looking for mom-related vacation ideas then take a look at some suggestions via that link that Caroline has.

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Online Grocery Shopping: Saving a Packet, or A Total Racket?

Online Grocery Shopping: Saving a Packet, or A Total Racket?

This week I decided to try online shopping. For groceries rather than the kind of items that one would usually shop for online, i.e. dvd’s cd’s etc.kitchen scale

With both kids home during the school holidays, the idea of loading up the car with all assorted paraphernalia simply to pop to the shops for groceries, having to wrangle them both into a trolley and then having no space left to actually put stuff, *really* didn’t appeal to me.

fruitbowlYou know what I mean right?

So I thought I would give one of our local stores the benefit of trying out their online shopping facility.

The website in question was easy to use, and fast to figure out the navigation, and I was able to get my shopping fairly quickly.

The whole process really opened my eyes to the possibilities and pitfalls of the concept and I thought that sharing my experience might help others avoid the potholes on the virtual  super highway.

Whether or not you choose to shop for groceries and basic necessities online, boils down to what you find more valuable to you.

Time vs Money

This is the question you should ask yourself:

If you are able to save an hour by shopping online, is that one hour more valuable to you, in terms of using the time to earn money by working on a project (if you’re a WAHM), than if you were to down tools, and go directly to the store to save money by finding bargains and specials that are not online. Consider everything right down to the gas/petrol required to get to the store, the distance travelled, the energy expended etc.

Here are some other pointers that can help you to improve your time management and cost saving ratio as well as some other interesting facts about doing grocery shopping online.

  • Make a Menu Plan: Do not deviate from that plan. Download our handy meal planner to help you plan out a weeks meals in advance. It can be used in both Excel or Open Office, and is fully customizable and free.pot
  • Shops with a List: From now on that is your Indian name. Make a list for groceries, based solely on your meal planner (did you download it yet?) and on any additional cleaning materials, other household items you may need. Ladies, chocolate is not a necessary household item, nor can it be categorized under ‘cleaning materials’, no matter how much you’d like it to.
  • Do not browse: Browsing unnecessarily leads to spending unnecessarily. Yes the boxes are pretty. Yes the pictures are colourful, but IGNORE them. You have a list. You are “Shops with a List” remember?
  • Environmentally Friendly:  Consider that if 20 people shop online, that would otherwise have driven cars to the store, you are actually saving some bad emissions from being released into the air. Yes, the delivery guy still has to drive to your house, but take one car versus twenty? Basic math says you’re helping the environment.
  • Temptation Not:  You won’t be tempted by the freshly baked cinnamon rolls and coffee if you can’t smell them right?

The Down Side: There is also a down side of course, and by shopping online, you will not be able to see any specials that are only available in store. Items that might have been marked down are not listed on online grocery store sites, so where you could save quite a bit by buying bananas that are ripe right now, and needing to be sold immediately at rock bottom prices.

  • Premium Only:  Sometimes when you shop online at a big online retailer for groceries, all orders are received at a centralized depot, and very often they will only carry the premium brand version of the product that you are looking for. So where at your local store you may have as many as three to four different brands of nappies available to choose from, they may only carry the most expensive premium brand. Ditto Olive Oil. Ditto Chocolate. But chocolate wasn’t on your list though right?
  • Expiry Dates: My online retailer has a feature which allows me to send a note to the ‘personal shopper’ who will be picking out the products for me. I use this to instruct them to please select the item that has the expiry date as far in the future as possible i.e. milk/bread/meat.  Failure to do that, results in the products I’m ordering to be expiring within a day or two of them being delivered. Fact.
  • Package Sizes: This again, is probably not the same at each retailer, but watch the package sizes carefully. You may be buzzing to discover this amazing bargan! Then when you receive it, you realise that it’s because you ordered the 100g bag instead of the 250g bag. If you aren’t there in person, at least read the fine print.
  • Bulk Bargains: Be aware of the bulk bargain trap. Buying the larger item in order to save money, isn’t always cheaper! Make sure you work out the difference in price per pound/kilo/gram before selecting the bulk option. Fact.
  • Local Products: This is a thorny issue as we all have it drummed into us that we should buy local products. I understand why. But I do not endorse this when the premium foreign brand is double the quality of the local one, and half the price. Fact. Yes, I’m talking about Tate & Lyle Demerara Sugar Cubes (ZAR 17.99) vs Hulettes Brown Sugar Cubes (R34.99). There is JUST no excuse for this sort of pricing, carbon foot print or not. If local brands want to compete, they’d better do so on equal footing. Charging double the price and hoping to guilt us into buying it will NOT fly with me or any of the other consumers I know.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on facebook, stumble it, tweet it and share it.

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WAHMs: You Need a Website, and here’s why…

WAHMs: You Need a Website, and here’s why…

If you are planning on starting a business, then chances are you will need a website, and the sooner the better.

What is the difference between a website and a blog? Nothing really. A blog is simply a particular type of website, and here are a couple of great reasons why you should have one.

  1. Blogs are relatively easy to set up.
  2. Blogs can be maintained by the owner (that’s you!), removing the need for going to a technical person to babysit it for you, or everytime you need to change something.
  3. Blogs that are updated regularly (it’s basically a series of chronological entries, kind of like an online diary) with good quality content, get better search engine traffic (more feet in the door) than websites which are made once, and then left there to languish for all eternity.
  4. Using Wordpress as your content management system (you will hear people talking about CMS) is the easiest way to have complete control over your websites content, and changing things on your website is about as difficult as composing and typing an email. (i.e. not difficult at all!)
  5. Using the blog format, allows customers/clients/people to interact with you and leave comments/contact you for more information, and it encourages conversation and community, these are all things you want in a successful business.
  6. Word of mouth is still one of the best promotional tools there is, and a blog can be set up so that your users/visitors/clients can easily promote or send your information to their family, friends and network of contacts.

I started this website with one thing in mind. Helping people. I know that people often feel afraid to ask for help, particularly with things of a technical nature, and that’s okay.  I understand how technology scares people who are afraid of messing things up.

You need not worry that you can’t do this, can’t have your own website, because I am going to help you along every single step of the way. If you need a website (if you’re starting a business or have a business, then this means you), then I am going to help you get one, set it up for you, and teach you how to use it.

I am a Work at Home Mom too, so I understand your concerns, the pressures you face (believe me, just typing out this post I had to deal with about 1.7 billion interruptions, including making about twenty pieces of toast “No, don’t cut it like that momy, I want triangles!!”) but aside from all that, I also understand what it is like to be a woman facing a technical challenge, and if I can share with you, the knowledge I have learned, and help you achieve your goals then I am going to do just that.

So What’s Next?

There are two essential ingredients in setting up your web presence.

1.  You Need a Domain Name (your very own .com, .net  etc).

A domain name is the name of your business as it appears in the web address. Eg. www.nessworld.com (nessworld.com) is our domain name.  Having a domain name is all fine and dandy, and many people mistakenly think that once they’ve registered one that’s IT, they have a website. Not so. Having a domain name is like having a name for your house, but with no building to live in. Domain names are registered once, range in cost from about $8 to $12 for a new registration, and you re-register them every year that you want to keep them.

2.  You Need a Hosting Package (a place to put your website up).

A hosting package is the place where your website is housed. This means it’s on a server somewhere, and you can access it using a control panel, through your web browser.  Hosting packages vary from very cheap, to very expensive (thank you Captain Obvious!), however, be warned; if you are serious about your business, and expect it to do well then be prepared to pay in the region of $5-$9 a month (USD).

So Here’s the Deal

I use StartLogic for most of my webhosting. I have been with them for over 3 years, and have had only compliments for their service.

If you decide that today is the day that you take yourself and your business seriously and you sign up for a StartLogic Pro-Logic Package, then I will install and set up Wordpress for you for free.

Here is Why StartLogic Pro-Logic is my host of choice:

  • Disk Space: Unlimited (you can store as much information/photos/videos/text as you need to)
  • Your Domain Name: Free* (free if you sign up for a year or two in advance, otherwise there is an $8.95 domain name registration charge).
  • Email Accounts: Unlimited (everyone in your family can get a you@yourbusiness.com email address)
  • Control Panel: Vdeck v 3.0
  • Bandwidth: Unlimited (this means that they do not limit the amount of visitors to your site (very important for when you hit the big time!!)
  • Money Back Guarantee: 30 Days (excl the domain reg fee, once registered it is yours for a year regardless of whether you use it or not)
  • Domains you can host: Unlimited. This means that you can purchase additional domains and add them to your one hosting package – so you can have as many websites as you want all on the same hosting package.

What does it cost?

  • 2 Year Plan: US$5.95/month + Free Setup + Free Domain Name (Total Upfront cost = $142.80 – roughly ZAR1035.89 for two years worth of hosting that’s just R43.16 a month!)
  • 1 Year Plan: US$6.95/month + Free Setup + Free Domain Name (Total Upfront cost = $ 83.40 – roughly ZAR605.48 for one whole years hosting, that’s just R50.45 a month!)
  • Monthly Plan: US $6.95/month + $30 Setup Fee + $8.95 Domain Name (Total Upfront cost $45.90/ZAR 328.28 then $6.95/ZAR 43.77 a month thereafter)

These are great options, because if you have the start up capital to pay upfront then it reduces your costs over the long run. When I started 3 years ago, I chose the third option, because I did not have the extra cash to ‘go big’ at the start. It just goes to show that having a business online does NOT have to cost an arm and a leg to get going. In fact the costs of starting a business online is far far less than if you were to physical premises and stock shelves.

So What Will I do For You, For Free?

  • Install and configure Wordpress software on your hosting package (i.e. set up the initial website/blog for you)
  • Upload 5 themes for you to choose from to start off with (a ‘theme’ is your blogs ‘look and feel’) there are many out there to choose from.
  • Install plugins that will give you better visibility with search engines, set up your rss feeds allowing people to subscribe, and another to prevent spam.
  • Tell you how and where to login to your wordpress panel,  and get you started creating your online presence.

Why am I doing this for free?

  • Firstly, if you sign up with StartLogic for a Prologic Package, they pay me a commission. This enables me to offer you my initial help to you for free. (If you already have a domain and hosting and want help then see my services page for how I can help you)
  • I believe in empowering woman to achieve their dreams, this is just a small way that I can help you get started. Being a work at home mom is very close to my heart and by helping other women, and particularly moms, I get to help whole families ! Or at least that would be my beauty pageant speech!

What technical services do I offer that are not free?

Please check out my services page (will open in new window) for more information, so that we can be clear as to what is free, and what is not.

My services include things like importing other blogs into a wordpress installation, personal tutoring via Skype on how to edit your websites content, create posts and make it look awesome, change the themes etc.

As well as graphic design services for designing all the bells and whistles that will make your blog look and feel amazing, and more importantly promote your business brand and identity.

These services are available as individual items, as and when required, but there is also an option for a monthly membership in the works, where I will also perform any upgrades necessary on the wordpress installation (they’re always improving it!) and on the plug-ins that we mentioned earlier as well as sending you monthly graphics to use on your site, tips on improving your blogs SEO (search engine optimization), and ideas for Social Media Marketing so that you can get more visitors and improve your business in every way possible, members also get my monthly newsletter which includes a lot of information about making money online using your website.

More details on this coming soon!

Do you have any reason NOT to take up this offer?

Get your business online host your web site with StartLogic! and start getting customers!

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