This week I was reminded of all the rich and wonderful connections I have made because of my blog.  I had the chance to visit the Sea Life Aquarium with Deb a.k.a. San Diego Momma .  Her blog is a must: read bold, irreverent, and often thought provoking.  We “met” when something she had written on her blog touched me, and I sent her an e-mail to share my own experience. 

Last week was the first time we had spent time together face to face, but it felt like we were already old friends.  Our older daughters adore each other.  Deb and I have some of the same favorite authors and passion for writing.  I always enjoy meeting moms who don’t mind talking about kids and their work…sometimes in the same breath.  Although she had only known me for about a day (plus several months of blog correspondence and one brief  Mom’s Night meeting) she offered to secure me an invitation to the Elephant Odyssey exhibit  press preview at the zoo and to refer me to Knudsen who is sponsoring some kind of great state park contest and was looking for local blogs to host it.  Knudsen never called…bummer State Park passes would have given me plenty to blog about.  Still, I did secure an Elephant Odessy invite, and the kids had a wonderful time.

While at the Zoo, Charity who runs the PR firm Virtue IMC came up to me and offered to introduce me to the PR person .  A mad hunt for this woman ensued which ended with Destiny hugging her in the zoo parking lot, but that’s a story for another time.  I was overwhelmed by Charity’s gesture.  It was amazing that she went out of her way to help a person that she had only met casually at a Mom’s Night Out.  That parking lot meeting may open alot of doors for me, and I am very grateful for it.

Anyway, the moral of this little tale is that if you are going into a business that serves other moms, be sure to start a blog and actively participate in the blogging community.  In addition to meeting some great friends you could  also find some unexpected opportunities.

Although I love blogging and social media, I will always be a book person.  Earlier this year when I decided to take my entrepreneurial journey more seriously I started haunting the business section of the library.  There are some really great books out there about  the great juggling act of being an entrepreneur and mom .  One book that provided a great combination of inspiration and practical advice on this subject was Secrets of Millionaire Moms by Tamara Monosoff founder of Mom Inventors Inc.

In her book she profiles a number of famous entrepreneurs including Victoria Knight McDowell, founder of Airborne Health and Maxine Clark founder and chief executive of the Build a Bear Workshop.    My favorite anecedote is that Victoria Knight McDowell, who was still a school teacher when she was first developing her Airborne product enlisted the help of school staff, students, and even parents when she needed to attach 44,000 samples by hand to preprinted post cards! 

This book is well organized and contains a wealth of good information.   It gives you ideas on how to get started, market your business,  deal with finances, as well as balance work and mothering. 

I’ve been feeling in kind of a slump lately,  so I plan to take this book on vacation with me next week and give it a second look.  I don’t know if I will ever be a millonaire mom, but I find it inspirational to read about fascinating  and confident  women who have “made it” in business.  Hopefuly in a few years I will have my own business stories to tell.

If you own your own business and/or are a mom inventor check out Tamara’s Website http://www.mominventors.com/ .  You can purchase Secrets of Millionaire Moms and Monosoff’s other  book  The Mom Inventors Handbook on Amazon.com .

The guidebook is published.  Our CD is launched for another year.  I have a lot of selling to do these days.  I would love to say that both products are wildly successful and I’m selling  several a day…nope!  I am definately in the tedious process of attracting customers, hustling to gain some market share, or in the case of my guidebook create a market.  (There is no other Legoland guidebook on the market right now.)  Still, I’d like to share some small successes that are rising out of what seemed to be failures.

• We were negotiating with a client about conducting some training classes.  We bid on the high side, made some concessions, but when we checked back in with her…she said she was comparing bids.  My husband and I panicked…should we have gone lower?  How low would the other bid be?  When we compared our class with other offerings we realized that it was still on the high side.  I didn’t hear from the client for a while and had almost given up, but decided to e-mail her to check in and let her know we would match the bid if it was reasonable.  The client asked for one more modest concession and we landed the job!

• The postcard fiasco.  Many postcards sent out, a significant number arrived back to us return to sender.  Very sales generated compared to the overhead cost and amount of work  required.  Still, just found out today the we are doing a project for a major client who became aware of our company via the postcard.  (He also purchased a CD!)

• This blog has not been my most successful venture.  It gets very few comments, and I don’t know if anyone is actually reading it.  Still, it landed me a huge opportunity to promote myself, my book, and my blog.  A few months ago I wrote a post about Twittermoms,  a social networking site for moms that’s really thriving.  A few weeks later I received a comment from a reporter…she wanted to interview me for a Redbook Article.  The article was published in the March 2009 edition.  Meghan, the founder of Twittermoms was so greatful for the exposure that she featured my blog in one of her weekly newsletters which is read by thousands of moms!

• It pays be involved in social networking.  When I first started promoting my book I took advantage of many social networking opportunities.   I became very involved in Twitter and Twittermoms.  I amped up my Facebook involvement.  I reached out to fellow travel bloggers through their blogs and social networking sites.  Well, it is clearly paying off, but not necessarily paying the bills.  I have found that the majority of books that I have sold so far have not been through Amazon,  Barnes and Noble or Target, but rather downloads from my publisher.  Although I run a Google ad, it is shown very infrequently due to circumstances beyond my control.  I’m pretty sure that the majority of those customers found me through my outreach to social media.

What are your failures that turned out to  be successes?  I would love to have some inspiration as I continue my entrepreneurial journey.

Dear Friends and Readers,

Please forgive this temporary change in theme.  This blog provides me with space to reflect and there is something that has been weighing heavy on my heart.  If you can, please take a moment to say this prayer on Deana’s behalf.  Thank

As some of you may know my life has been touched in many ways by the legacy of John Henry Cardinal Newman through the work of several Newman Catholic Ministries.  My mom’s faith was strengthened by the Newman Center at UCSF, my parents met and fell in love while serving as co-advisors of the Newman Club at College of Marin, I was involved in the Newman Community of UC Santa Cruz for many years.  The Marianist priests who served as Newman advisors married Ken and I and baptized Justin.

John Henry Newman was a real person who lived a very holy life.  He is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.  Part of that process is to document miracles that may have occured due to the potential saints intervention.

I have a friend who is the mother of two preschoolers.  She has faced much adversity and joy in her life.  She suffered infertility, adopted two young boys, and nursed her husband through a serious illness.  This September she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system.  Deana has battled bravely with her disease, but to no avail.  Her family has been advised to call Hospice and she is currently at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas receiving one last round of chemotherapy which may not work.

Deana Reynolds is a wonderful caring person who has touched many lives.  I’m sure she will do just fine with God in heaven, but I can’t help but think that she still has work to do here on earth.  She needs a miracle, and I would love to honor John Henry Newman by obtaining a miracle on her behalf.

I know this sounds crazy, but please take a moment to pray the prayer below and asking Cardinal Newman to intercede for Deana Reynolds. 

Thanks,

Bridget

John Henry Cardinal Newman

God our Father,

your servant John Henry Newman

upheld the faith by his teaching and example.

May his loyalty to Christ and the Church,

his love of the Immaculate Mother of God,

and his compassion for the perplexed

give guidance to the Christian people today.

We beg you to grant the favors we ask

through his intercession

so that his holiness may be recognized by all

and the Church may proclaim him a saint.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Please report any favors received to:

The Vice-Postulator 

The Oratory, Birmingham 

B16 8UE 

England 

In college I took a course on the history of musical theater.  My professor was convinced that Stephen Sondheim was the most important composer ever, so we spent plenty of time studying his work.  Today, the score of his musical “Into the Woods” has been buzzing through my head.    As I comb the score for words that speak to my mood, these pop out:

Though it’s fearful,
  Though it’s deep, though it’s dark
  And though you may lose the path,
  Though you may encounter wolves,
  You can’t just act,
  You have to listen.
  you can’t just act,
  You have to think.
  Though it’s dark,
  There are always wolves,
  There are always spells,
  There are always beans,
  Or a giant dwells there.

As you can see I’m in the midst of a dark point in my entrepreneurial journey.  We have sent out 2,000 postcards for my training business none of which have resulted in an order thus far.  I have made a total of $14.95 on my book.  It is exhausting and frustrating that hours of effort seem to be in vain.  I know I should be hopeful, even optimistic.   I should believe in my future entrepreneurial success.  I should trust this cross pollination of ideas that is constantly revealing new roads of possibility.

Then there are the opportunities that are presenting themselves.  Turns out I’m not the only struggling entrepreneur in the world.  There are people further down the road than I offering me a hand up.  My dilemma, should I devote time and energy to this enterprise that yields, even in the best case scenario, so little profit.  Is it fair to my family, fair to my husband, fair to my training business?  Do these potential angels have my best interest in mind, or am I just another way to promote their brand with fairly low overhead?  I feel a bit lost in the woods, it’s hard to tell the wolves from the woodsman, or perhaps they are one in the same.

I love to write.  I love to share my ideas.  I believe that my words can improve people’s lives.  Still, it is difficult to know if this enterprise is productive or selfish.  Could my energy be better spent?  Is this just a way to escape  the realities of California Mission reports and preschoolers who are so engrossed in their play, that they are disassembling my house piece by piece?

My dream is to create financial security for my family by doing something that I love and am passionate about.  So far, achieving that dream seems a bit impossible.  I’m still lost in the woods.  So I’ll take Sondheim’s advice…do some thinking and some listening.  Try to make my way through the wolves or potential colleagues, the spells cast by my own insecurity, and this evil economic giant  towards my dream of entrepreneurial success.

I’m ready for the journey.

-Bridget

Looking for a site that gives great advice for budding entrepreneur as well as a chance to reach out to your potential market?  Twitter Moms can be an amazing resource.  Started just a few months ago, as way for Moms to build their Twitter followers it has really developed a life of its own.

I find it is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the blogosphere in the field I am working in.  Through Travel Moms on Twitter Moms I have connected with some of the top bloggers on family travel.  I even have a book review scheduled as a result of this amazing resource.  Other boards for WAHMs, bloggers, and entrepreneurs have provided me with useful marketing advice.

Twitter Moms has also served its stated purpose of helping me to optimize Twitter.  Now I follow many family travel bloggers and have a consistent source of new materials and places to post comments.  It is a lot easier than subscribing to a bunch of RSS feeds or constantly surfing the net or using bookmarks.

I would recommmend joining Twitter and Twitter Moms for any budding entrepreneur.  It’s fun.  It’s addictive.  It also makes life easier.  What more can you ask for?

-Bridget

Well, I cast my vote on the day after my youngest had a bout of the stomach flu and was unable to make a speech evaluation.  In the midst of cleaning up barf for the eighth time, I found myself wondering…how our our future fearless leaders going to pull this off?

It’s amazing and exciting to me that  most of presidential and vice presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle have school age children.   What an amazing journey this campaign must be for these families.

 When Sarah Palin was first announced I thought it was exciting that a woman was on the ticket.  I must confess I that I feel like a tratior to my gender.  As I learned more, I didn’t think, “Wow, that’s great- supermom…governer, potential VP, parent to several children including one with special needs…you go girl…you do it all.”  Instead as a mom who had weathered the procession of evaluations and home visits that accompany raising a special needs baby,  I found myself asking, “How on earth is this woman going to pull this off and still give her family the attention it needs?”  Later developments in the Sarah Palin saga added to my uncertainty.

I read an interview in Parents Magazine with the Obamas.  It sounds like they both try to be present parents.  I admire Michelle Obama for putting her career on hold for the moment as her husband reaches for the stars.  I think she is a great lady who has much to offer our nation.  I am hoping that her work life balance will include being a great mom and bringing some of the spirit and innovation that encouraged an outpouring of volunteers in Chicago to the position of first lady if she has the chance to fill that role.

I have made my choice, cast my vote, and am very satisfied with my candidate of choice.  Unlike the rest of America, however, I don’t think the world will end if the other candidate makes it to the White House.  We have two solid candidates to choose from this time around.  I just wish they would stop putting each other down and starting sharing their complete vision for our country, including how they will fix social security.

I am looking forward to watching how the President and VP alike, whomever he or she may be manages to juggle the responsibilities of their office and the needs of their families.  My prayer for them is that they will be able to give their families the love and support they need, while creating a better nation for us all.

Well off to try and do the same on a much smaller scale .  It should be an exciting night.  Hopefully Jared’s flu will not return, and I will be able to follow the election returns with the little ones sleeping peacefully.

-Bridget

So far, I have two businesses with some potential for making money, but very little revenue.  I have two preschoolers and a school age child so getting a “real job” doesn’t feel like a viable option.  My liberal arts degree gives me the marketable skills to earn $20 an hour tops.  The price of full time childcare for even one kid, would pretty much eat that up. 

Deep down, I am convinced that the life of an entrepreneur is for me, but pretty soon I need to start making a significant amount of money in order to stay out of the workforce.  So far, the routes I have chosen require some investment up front (ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars) and a significant investment of time before I start making a profit.  So far profits have been elusive.  Although I love what I do in both cases, I find myself wonderng if it is in the best interests of my family to switch to a more service oriented business.  If I choose an area like virtual assistant or tutor, the money I make will have a direct correlation to the work that I do.

I plan to explore the possibilities of making the switch to a more service oriented business.  In the mean time, I will identify the skills required to get a “real job”, see which I can use to enhace current or future entrepreneurial ventures and develop those skills through continuing education or self study.  Hopefully this will make me more marketable, whatever I pursue.

Anyone have some thoughts on the product vs services dilemma?  What is the best way to learn about Search Engine Optimizaton?  Everyone wants you to know reflect it in your writing.  I can’t see that there is really a science to it.

Food for thought on this sunny Southern California Morning.

-Bridget

I’m in the airport in Houston waiting for the final plan in my journey home.  My first business trip was full of surprises and somewhat successful.  I learned an amazing amount about the training and shipping dangerous goods.   My colleagues were very kind and generous with their knowledge and experience.  I had to stretch myself, but I made many good contacts and hopefully at least one or two prospective sales.  I may even have a chance to write an article for a trade publication…very exciting!

I also learned the Comfort Inn in Parkside has great breakfast and mediocre rooms, and that Nextel gets lousy reception on a windy Florida day.  If anyone read a recent article (maybe in Fast Company?) about a former computer guy who has become the head of a prestigious design school let me know.  I have a project that will make the world a much safer and better place, but requires really innovative design.  It teaches me to clip those articles, just like my mom loves to do!

The kids seemed to have survived thanks to the loving care of both Grandmas.  I am very lucky to have such wonderful support.  I’m happy, energized, exhausted and ready to get home.   I’m trying to balance work and fun during the journey home:  studying federal regulations in between chapters of my novel.

Well, time to get home and get back to the business of being a mom and running a business.  There’s lots to be done!

-Bridget

Tomorrow I am off to the Labelmaster Dangerous Goods Symposium in Deerfield Beach, Florida.   With two Grandma’s taking care of three kids there is  a lot of planning involved in getting out the door. Funny how the gender divide works.  Today my husband hopped on a plane to a conference unencumbered with a bag packed by yours truly.  Tonight I am working late, putting together detailed instructions for Grandma, packing suitcases for each child, cleaning the toad aquarium, buying dog food, packing up my laptop, putting down every last contact number.  How do guys get off so easy ?

I’m aprehensive, but excited.  My goal is to learn more about training, network with other Dangerous Goods trainers, and maybe explore partnering with a very big company.  I’ve collected all the good advice, packed my bags, now it’s time to take some risks, and turn Class7Training into a successful business!  Wish me luck.  I’ll try to post an update midweek.

In the mean time for more frequent mommy business travelers, how do you pull this off on a regular basis? Hats off to you.

-Bridget