Keep your eye out for “Facebook password reset confirmation customer support”.
“Hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook’s estimated 400 million users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information.” Read more.
Categories: newsflash.
Ruby Blossom Blanket from Big Fat Hen
I was really excited when my client Big Fat Hen was announced Pick of the Year from coolmompicks.com! Co-owner Emily was kind enough to take the time to discuss her business of offering fresh, fun and functional modern baby essentials.
BCC: What compelled you to start your own business? Can you tell us a little bit about the beginnings of bigfathen?
Emily: When I was pregnant with my son, I couldn’t find anything for the baby room that wasn’t super disney’d out or insanely expensive. So my Mom came up with all these great ideas and together we created a bedding set. People really loved the bedding and it got us thinking about starting a business. At first we were going to do a few crib quilts and market them to local stores but we soon realised that we wanted to do it right which meant a website, business cards, hang tags, labels etc… My mom and I have a great personal and working relationship so its been a blast doing this with her.
BCC: How did you come up with the name “Big Fat Hen”?
Emily: Big Fat Hen was a childhood nickname- its not as bad as it sounds! My older brothers mixed two nursery rhymes -One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Higgledy Piggledy to create a nursery rhyme for me. They would recite the made up nursery rhyme to me and over the years created all these great endearing nicknames that I still have today. When my Mom and I were considering starting a business my brother Dean suggested Big Fat Hen as a name and we loved it.
Dawson's Diggers Blanket
BCC: How have you managed to juggle the roles of business owner and mom? What falls by the wayside?
Emily: I work full-time and love my job so for 8 hours my attention is there. When I come home I put my energy into spending quality time with my son and husband. I then put my son to bed and start working on Big Fat Hen. I try not to mix work, Big Fat Hen and family because they all need my undivided attention. So I guess I juggle roles by trying not to juggle. A lot of things fall by the wayside- the thing I miss most is free time.
BCC: Where are your products manufactured?
Emily: My Mom hand makes all of our products in Victoria. We have another talented sewer who also helps us out when we get busy.
BCC: What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Emily: Our products have been reviewed on a several blogs and we have been featured in some local magazines. The best blog for us has been www.coolmompicks.com because we have been approached by stores who have seen us featured on that reputable site. But you can’t beat word of mouth. We have had a lot of our friends pass around our website which has generated a lot of business and support for Big Fat Hen.
BCC: What is your favorite BFH product?
Emily: The Sam Savanna blanket.
BCC: What is your favorite baby/toddler find?
Emily: I am loving the ‘foaming tot wash’ by Rocky Mountain Soap Company. It’s natural, smells good and because of it my son can’t stop saying ”soap” a million times a day.
Emily's favorite blanket fabric in bib form - Sam Savanna
BCC: Have you subscribed to the latest in social media – facebook, twitter, blogging…?
Emily: We are on facebook which has been great for us. We have been able to reach our fans when we have a sale or when we get picked up by a new store. I would like to spend more time on reaching people through social media but its all about priorities and right now our priority is providing our stores and individual customers with good service and a great product.
BCC: You have paypal integrated with your online store, are you happy with PayPal?
Emily: PayPal has been super easy to work with. I have never had any issues with online payments and our customers report that it has been seamless on their end.
BCC: What stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up during those frustrating days of running your business?
Emily: Knowing that I have my Mom as my business partner. She reads me very well and knows when I am running on low. She picks up a lot of the work when I can’t. I also love our products and believe that we will become more successful each year. We are always thinking of how to expand our product line so it keeps us on our toes and excited about all the possibilities.
www.bethcampbellcreative.com
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Categories: child star, chit-chat, portfolio.
Evite
Ahh… Evite. Full of ads, it starts with an email about a party with no information about the party, and then it leads you to a garish custom web page. It can be frustrating when you’re en route to the party and need internet access to check the address.
MyPunchbowl leaves guests a pretty informative email, but neglects to include the event location and is visually cluttered. Similar is AnyVite. A mod option is Crusher. A new invite status column in the Edit Guest List page shows you the status of each invitee’s invitation. You can even broadcast live updates from the party. If your party is cool enough to bother with that, please invite me.
Manvite
For the fellas out there, you must check out Manvite. Invite options include “drink beer”, “cougar hunting”, and “go see ninja assassin”. The home page looks promising, but once you take a few steps in it looks like it falls apart. Try it out and let me know how it works. I would imagine it probably doesn’t include directions and forgets to send the email.
You can tell instantly from Pingg’s home page that you are in safer style territory. The initial email covers all the necessary info, and you don’t even need to view the event web page if you don’t want to. This is my pick. So get goin’ and send those holiday invites!
Pingg
Categories: bits & bytes.
I know, sounds exciting. It is Monday after all. I’ve had many conversations with other small business owners regarding how they keep track of their finances, invoicing etc. If it’s time to graduate from the Excel spreadsheet, or expensive accounting software is bogging you down, I’ve got a few ideas.
For me, it started with Freshbooks, an online invoicing and time tracking tool. No more watching the clock or losing track of time. No more transferring data to Excel invoices. Great for freelancers or service providers, it allows you to send custom invoices by email or snail mail, keep track of expenses and manage contractors. They offer PayPal integration if you’re interested in accepting credit card payments. You can try it free (seamless transition if you decide to sign up) or pay a monthly fee based on how many clients you wish to manage.
Freshbooks works well with Basecamp, a web-based project collaboration tool. Share files, meet deadlines, assign tasks and centralize feedback. Clients can view project status and associated files 24/7 which I find really cuts down on millions of back and forth emails. Clients can view the project timeline and find out what they are responsible for, which helps keep things on track. For accounting purposes, you can import time spent on projects into Freshbooks. If you get in to Basecamp, Timy is a great time-tracking tool.
I just came across Shoeboxed. So get this. You send ALL of your random receipts in to them (by mail, fax, email, from your phone) and they scan them, and organize them in a tidy online account. You can actually view your real receipts by clicking on the online entry. They have automatic categorization and will also keep track of your contacts – all you have to do is send in a business card! Integrates with Freshbooks. Dying to hear of anyone who has tried this!
MailChimp is a email marketing tool and list manager. Integrations with WordPress, Twitter and Salesforce make MailChimp a pretty powerful social networking tool. Store up to 500 subscribers for FREE.
Categories: bits & bytes.
Lately I’ve been hopping aboard the Social Media train. Many of my clients have been asking me about Facebook, Twitter and blogging.
Facebook lies somewhere between Twitter and a blog. It’s a place to connect with friends and family on a more personal level. The usefulness of Twitter is not as readily obvious to some people as Facebook; it lies more in the world of Instant Messaging. Responses are instantaneous and you can connect to literally anyone. It’s a place to bounce around ideas and find out what’s going on in any given realm. Is joining this network necessary?
Categories: bits & bytes.
