A Message from BBWO Small Business Expert Richelle Shaw:
It’s time for my business but I am really nervous and scared!
As the premier expert in business building I meet with entrepreneurs weekly about how to build their million dollar business and even though we focus the majority of the time on different strategies to grow their businesses we always end up working on their head too.
Today my coaching client told me that she is scared. So when I pressed her, tell me what you are scared about, she was really at a loss for words. She could not articulate what she was scared about. Then, she said, well, its that I am really shy and putting myself out there is scary. I have lots of clients, plenty of people to buy my products and I have made money, but if I just had a spokes model to sell my products!
She said Richelle, I bought all of the promotional products, I have pens, I have business cards, I have lots of marketing materials but I have not reached out there and started selling like I can. I am keeping my day job and focusing on the dream not the reality.
I felt for her, I understand exactly how that happens. Once again, I go back to the weight loss issue. Every time I get ready to lose weight, I buy lots of products to assist me… just like she buys the pens, cards and postcards… BUT the reality is that you have to do something.
Here are my suggestions to break out of your shell, earn the money that you deserve.
1. As far as having a dream, Acknowledge that it is fun to live in Hollywood but realize that it is Hollywood. It is not real. I think you should have dreams but you must construct a plan to implement the dream. The difference between a dream and a goal is the goal has action plans, the dream you actually wake up one day still in the same place.
2. It is easy to keep dreaming because you never have to act on it, plus everything is perfect in the dream. The response rates from your marketing are great, the sales are earth moving. It is based on what you think, now what you know.
3. As far as being shy, Use the Beyonce example and become Sasha Fierce! Create a new persona to run your company and be the face of your business. Have someone create a cartoon and use that on your website and in your mailings so that it’s Sasha that is out there not you.
Finally, aren’t you tired of being right where you are. Make a change. No matter if you succeed or fail, at least you are not stuck.
If you think you might need coaching help to take your business to a million dollars, consider the Women of Color Coaching Program.
We do have a special discount just for you:
1. You will receive the 3 Coaching Calls which include the Essential Lists for Profit in your business, Live Q&A plus FREE marketing online.
2. All for $29.99, plus the month of January for free.
3. Beginning Feb, 1st you will be billed at the new rate of $99 per month which is still a significant discount.
Won’t you make this change today!
Signup Now: http://businesswomenofcolor.com/about/
Women of Color Coaching Program | Official Website: Business Women of Color
Richelle & LaShanda
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Speak Life! is the newest book by Jennifer Mitchell Earley. A devotional journal, Speak Life! is a valuable resource that will enable mothers to better understand and more effectively pray for their daughters.Every mother wants the best for their little girl whether that little girl is four, fourteen, or forty. However, a mother's good intentions and desires for the best can sometimes leave her daughter feeling criticized, controlled, and condemned. Learn how to effectively communicate your feelings of love and concern and Speak Life!These devotions will help you to edify and encourage your little girl at every stage of her life. This book is an essential tool for any woman-to-woman relationship: mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister, niece, cousin, or friend. There are even devotions concerning husbands and sons!Chapter Headings Include:My Little GirlTweens: "The Wonder Years"Teens: Becoming...Virtuous WomanWife of Noble CharacterJourney of MotherhoodThe tongue holds the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. - Proverbs 18:21A perfect stocking stuffer and keep sake, order your copy today! $10.00*www.aphesispublishing.com
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Hello Community, Here is some info on creating additional income in a growing market. The internet is creating new industries.BLOGGING AND EARNING - There are many ways to generate additional income.Networkingly Yours, RickeyCLICK HERE for Marketing Info you can use todayRead more…
As an entrepreneur on a small budget, I like to pocket my profit and avoid spending whenever possible. In today's economy, you can't afford to waste your money. Check out my listing of the top FREE and affordable web tools for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners. Feel free to add your freebies to the list and/or share this list with others.
1. The best free web tool for every entrepreneur is of course paypal.com. I use paypal for everything; sending out invoices, setting up subscription payments, and creating shopping carts.
2. My cell phone is my primary line and that simply won't do as an entrepreneur. I spend little to nothing to make international calls on Skype and I host all my teleseminars, conference calls, and virtual meetings for Free using FreeConferenceCall.
3. Adding Video or Audio to your site doesn't have to cost you a thing! If you can't afford Go-to-Meeting, use UStream for live video streaming, it's free! PC Users take advantage of your free Movie Maker to create your own movies. For audio, download audacity, a free audio recorder. It's great for podcasting. I host my podcast on podbean for less than $5 a month, and I make money by adding a subscription fee to my premium podbean posts. In my podcast I share my e-business tips with other entrepreneurs.
4. I self publish all my books at no cost on lulu.com and use Kunaki to mass produce my CDs.
5. There is no better Free email service than g-mail. Google has tons of free small business solutions, from google analytics to Google Docs for word processing applications, which are great if you don't have MS Word or MS Office.
6. Do you want to keep track of your website and marketing campaigns. Use google analytics to track your stats. Signup for Google Alerts and create alterts on your name, website, or business to receive free email notifactions of any weblinks relevant to you. When creating a new alert, remember to put phrases and names in quotations. Try Google's free keyword tool if you need help with selecting keywords for your ads or SEO campaigns.
7. If you are looking for free software visit Download.com or the FreeSite.
8. You can try eFax for online faxing services. When I don't feel like paying for faxes, I simply scan my document and send via email as a pdf. Get's the job done without the extra hassle.
9. If you are looking for freelance work or a freelancer for your project, visit elance.com to promote your business or find inexpensive services.
10. Get access to tons of Free Templates for newsletters, calenders, invoices, and more at Microsoft Office's Small Business Templates page.
11. Quality images are so important for your business. Every week I am in need of professional images for my blogs, banners, photos for business material, eBook covers, etc. I get my clipart and stock photography graphics from iStockphoto.com for as little as $1.
12. For only $5 per month I make hundreds of dollars in weeks by selling my e-Books on e-junkie.com, the best website for selling digital content. I create all my eBooks using MS Word, Istock Photos, and I use a free webtool to convert my files to pdf format - PDF995.
13. Blogging is so important for my business. I get tons of Free Advice on Blogging from ProBlogger Darren Rowse, and Yaro Starak. Yaro even has FREE How-to-Blog video tutorials to help you build your first blog.
14. No Cost Marketing is my favorite kind of marketing. I promote my site for free online in tons of different ways. I created my own social networks for FREE on ning.com. I use free social bookmarking and networking sites like stumbleupon.com and twitter to share my posts with other entrepreneurs. With thousands of friends on Myspace and Ning, I hardly ever pay for advertising.
15. When I am not on my Ning website, I am networking with people on yahoo groups and meetup.com.
16. For Creating a Blog, there is no better Free Blog Publishing Tool than Wordpress. Here is a listing of over 45 Free premium word press themes.
17. Send out your press releases using PRLeap and PRWeb.
18. The best free websites to host your videos are of course youtube.com and blip.tv.
20. For the most affordable web hosting plans and domain name registration I suggest godaddy.com and hostmonster.com.
These are just a handful of free web tools and smalll business resources that I feature in my eBook, the Web Entrepreneurs Back Pack. I created this guide to give you access to over 500 web tools, so that you never have to waste your precious time searching for the right resources. You can download this ebook by itself or get it in a collection of my 3 Best Guides featuring information about Internet Marketing, Selling Your Products and Services online and finding affordable Small Business Services Online.
LaShanda Henry
Premium eBooks for Web Entrepreneurs
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I have been approached on several ocassions regarding making some eco-friendly grocery totes.I finally got a chance to sit down and really think about how big I would make a bag. I have been doing some research and most of the "handcrafted" bags I've seen on the market have been smaller, regular flat tote style bags. I wanted to incorporate the "tote" style into my design, but also make it really wide and functional for use as a grocery bag. I added sturdy cotton webbing handles, and double stitched all the seams for durability.Although I am very happy with the way this bag has turned out, my wonderful husband has given me numerous ideas on how I can better it. Let's just hope that I have the time to create the new styles soon.
Make your relationship personal.Ask customers about themselves and their family.Delight them by remembering dates important to them like their anniversary (this could also be the date they first became your customer).Over-deliver and surprise them with an extra bonus.Do more of what you do best and expand on it.Send them thank you notes, they may lead to referrals.Surprise them with a gift.Send them useful information about items that might interest them.Reward them with a frequent buyer program.For more tips like these, visit our blog.
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Good Better Best...
Are you offering these options to your customers?
Studies have shown that the buyer will take the top or BEST option 20% of the time when offered. If you are not offering a tiered option in your business you are losing out.
Look at even Gas Stations.... even though gas rates are crazy, they still offer 3 options. The Mercedes driver still wants the best for her investment.
In a service business - this is easy. Offer a basic version or a done for you version. A dance studio can offer classes with the regular instructor for $89 per month, an accomplished dancer for $129 per month and private classes with the owner for $249 per month. This is an easy way to get more money for providing the same service.
Your assignment, find a way to give Good, Better and Best options in your business.
For the other 6 tips, Listen now to the FREE pre-recorded Recession Proof Tele-seminar with multi-million dollar mompreneur Richelle Shaw and Successful Web Entrepreneur, LaShanda Henry: http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/forum/topics/listen-to-recession-proof
Much Success
Richelle & LaShanda
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1. Do not carry the credit card with you. This will prevent impulse buying.2.Develop a spending limit and debt repayment plan.3. Talk with family members about the intended use of credit card and try to think of alternative forms of payments.4. Give yourself a 24 hour cooling off period before making purchase.
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Posted by Richelle Shaw on November 18, 2008 at 1:28am
The most important way to advertise during this economyEverybody is trying to steal recession proof your business but they are not giving you concrete things to do right now.Here is the list.1. Don’t stop marketing!2. When you do buy advertising, make sure that you are using direct response techniques.A brief example:My new coaching client Stephanie participated in a “combo” special marketing program. First, Stephanie’s company sells beautiful high end handbags, in multiple colors and textures. A women’s dream! Check out her website at http://www.micis-boutique.com/.Stephanie is really excited about what can happen with this program. It includes, an email blast to over 80,000, a full page ad on a digital magazine and a full page ad in the print magazine. Sounds like lots of exposure and she is waiting for her website to start sending orders!So here is the prescription to make sure that this is going to work for her. Breaking the questions into 2 different categories.Maximizing Sales1. Designing your site appropriately for fast loading.2. Monitoring things – making sure that the website has your best deals ready for buyers3. Adding a special urgency message to the website so that the people visiting will buy immediately4. Capturing the data from those that are not ready to buy just yet, but want to come back and browse. Getting their information so that we can follow up with them.5. Adding upsells to the check out and thank you pages to take advantage of the shoppers in a buying mode6. Making sure the shipping package includes coupons and discounts for other services especially for the holidaysKnowing your numbers7. Proper tracking codes on each media so that we know which media – the email, print magazine or the digital magazine worked the best8. Knowing the numbers! How many bags do you need to sell to make your money back?Advertising again? During these economic times, only proven strategies should be used. Only media that you have used before and experienced a high ROI – return on investment should be used. Most entrepreneurs are not using this method. They like to hear the phone ring, or they are looking at the increased traffic to their website. Look – you can not deposit the good feelings, the hunches or the traffic. Only money is allowed.Well, Stephanie is a fast learner but had not considered the info above. Especially not how many bags you need to sell to make your investment back. This number is KEY.When deciding advertising to purchase, run these numbers first. Advertising is only expensive when it does not work. As long as it works, it is the best way to get new lifelong customers. But if you don’t know the numbers, it is like running through the house with a butcher knife… very very dangerous.Business Women of Color Coach!Richelle Shawwww.womenofcolorcoach.org
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Money worries have many different voices: “How am I going to pay my phone bill? My lights are almost two months behind. The rent is due. What are we going to do about the mortgage? We don’t have money for football uniforms. No field trip. That cost money. No, you can’t have that, it cost more than what we have in our budget. They’re coming to take the furniture back; our payment is overdue. The kid needs her braces removed but the dentist won’t do it unless we pay the rest of the money we owe. I’ve lost my job. I’m sorry, honey, they have downsized my position. If I want to keep my job I will have to take a cut in pay. How can I afford these child support payments? I can’t take this any more. What are we going to do?”A mind that is cluttered with money worries may be flooded with one or two or all of these thoughts at one time or another. Maybe you were there once in your life, maybe not. Most people with financial troubles are anxious, confused, angry, harbor feelings of hopelessness, insecurity, and uncertainty about future financial outcomes. Consequently, this state of mind affects everything, including work performance.It’s time for a financial assessment. Is your trouble because you have maxed out your credit cards? Maybe you have more month than money. Do you have medical expenses? Are you sick and can’t work? Have you lost your job, or been downsized? Where did the shortage originate?Once you have assessed where the problem lie, then you can look at remedies. Money troubles in plain simple English are not enough money to cover your present lifestyle. The causes may or may not be within your control.When the funds are low, the logical answer would be to make more but what most people do is fret about it. Some spend more time worrying about what they don’t have while others add on a second job.Money troubles are not going to go away without something changing. Worry will not make up the deficit but initiating a plan of action will.Step IMake a list of all of your monthly household livingexpenses: mortgage, rent, utility bills, etc.Step IIList Your Debts (creditors you owe)Step IIIList your entertainmentStep IVList miscellaneous (lunch, coffee, snacks, etc.)Step VWrite in how much you pay on each. Total thatamount.Step VIList your sources of income (job, spouse, etc.). Takethe total from this and subtract it from what you spend onhousehold, debts and entertainment. If that figure showsyou are not covering your expenses, look back at yourexpenses; see what you can eliminate from entertainment.Make a list of other areas you are expending money,such as lunch, dry cleaning, hair cuts, etc.Try taking your lunch from home rather than buying lunch. The average lunch cost about $7.00. That $7.00 for five days comes to $35.00 a week, totaling $140.00 a month. Imagine if you, your wife and children spent the same amount weekly,that would amount to a partial mortgage or rental payment.Take a look at your Debt. Began to work from the smallest to the largest. Take the money you saved from not buying, let’s say lunch, and redirect the total amount towards paying off the smallest debt first.As you pay off each debt, take that money and add it to the next smallest debt, working your way to the largest, until you have eliminated your debt completely. While you are doing this, examine your household budget.Look at how to eliminate some of your other expenditures; for example, if you have a high cell phone bill, you might want to exchange that cell phone for one with a more fixed rate. Maybe instead of hiring a lawn service, you could cut the grass yourself. Perhaps you might visit Barber or cosmetology trade schools to obtain these services at a reduced rate.Look at what you are already doing first to find the extra money. If you still need more to make up the deficit, then you might look at your skills and talents: start a home-based business. It’s something you could do as a family.Money troubles can be conquered, if you are willing to take a few extra steps. Don’t look at the impossible debt mountain, began the climb one step at a time. And, yes, it is okay to reward yourself along the way but keep in mind where you are headed. Don’t overdo it. Once your debt is eliminated, don’t spend the excess money; instead, add it to your future savings options.Understand that paying your debts down will not take place overnight but if you are consistent it will happen.Blondie L. Clayton is a Realization Strategist™, Publishing Coach, Author of several books, Freelance Writer, hosts of several radio talk shows online. Download your free debt free starter kit at debtfree.print2publish.com
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Networking, effective networking, takes time. So many resources and contact to be made. To minimize feeling overwhelmed. Make your contact often and message short. You see, contact is about value not trying to cover weeks of activities in one entry.Let folks know you are still "in the game" and press on .Do it moving.My networking contacts have grown so much , I must manage contact activities. However, making the contact is critically essential to your professional and personal growth.So as I stated on several occassions . Determine What is Important now ( WIN) i.e make consistent contacts to network sourcesthen Do it Now ( DIN).Well , you are reading this entry. SUCCESS!!!!!!Networkingly yours,Rickeywww.juniques.us
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"If they could not rest in life, let them in death!"A slave cemetery has been found in Wake Forest, North Carolina. This grave site was found 10 ten years ago by John Hebert. He kept it a secret to keep it safe so people would not come in and try to steal artifacts. It's probably the only true place where the slaves can rest, and now the Wake County Board of Education wants to build over it. It's a historical site that should not be forgotten and built over. Don't let the suffering of 65 to 70 slaves be tread on just because the school board wants another high school.www.SavetheSlaves.com
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My Dear Sisters,I feel so truly blessed to have lived through many historical moments during my lifetime and I just wanted to share my feelings with you. Unfortunately most of these moments have been tragic with the untimely deaths of JFK, Bobby, MLK, and Brother Malcolm, plus many conflicts of war, the riots in Newark, NJ and Los Angeles. Many of my friends did not return from Viet Nam and Desert Storm, but on the other hand my blessings have abounded I saw the multitudes march on Washington, I saw the first man on the moon,, I heard Martin's speech forty years ago as a teenager (glued to the black and white images across the screen.) I rooted for sister Shirley Chisolm, Brothers Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as they drew their line in the sand during their respective attempts at the presidency...and now I have seen the first Black President Elect in the history of this country.You have no idea the feelings swelling within me right now! You know when Michelle Obama said she had never been more proud to be an American? That's what I feel and even more (maybe 100 fold.) Words can not even come close to paint that picture.I now know more emphatically why my mother and father shed tears that I could not comprehend at the time (in the late 50's and 60's and even early 70's.) My paternal grandmother was conceived after slavery in 1885 (God bless her soul she lived to be 94,) and her father was...the former slave master himself. So just put every positive thought and feeling you can imagine when you fast forward to 11/04/08 ...and that's where I am.Will YOU remember where you were at the particular time when the it was officially announced...that Barack Obama would be the next President of these United States? My husband and I were invited to various watch parties, but we wanted to share this historic event with our 15 and 13 year old children. We wanted to talk and share with them how we felt and get them to open up about their feelings too. We wanted them to understand what this event meant and to be able to discuss our personal feelings so they would want to share theirs with us. I hope each and everyone who reads this, had an exceptionally wonderful day on 11/04/2008 and the historic implications will be etched in your hearts and souls forever. So let me tell you something my sisters, you will never forget where you were and what you were doing or who you were with on that historic day. I remember something about every single one of those major events that I mentioned that happened in my life and so will you. And tell your children, and your grandchildren. Never let this story be forgotten. Remember Alex Haley. If his ancestors story hadn't been preserved through the art of story telling, we would have not been inspired by his family's story in the epic mini-series and book "Roots".Love, peace and unity your sista, Darlene
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Posted by Victoryia D on October 8, 2008 at 2:00pm
Breaking up is hard to do. Everyone goes through it more than once in a lifetime. Some breakups are harder than others because of the emotional bond.When a love one dies, you grieve for a period of time and slowly move on with life. Theres no difference when you break up from a relationship. You grieve, moan and groan for a while, cry and think about the good times and bad.The only difference is most women think about going back to their ex even when they know it was not their fault in the first place. Some stay in a bad relationship because they been together for a long time and that's not good either.Don't dig up your ex from the grave, leave them there and move on.Here are 7 Ups every woman should know after any break up#7 - Wise up — Know this had to end for a new beginning. Life is too short to settle for less.#6 - Stand up — For yourself and let no one walk over you. No more Ms. Nice Guy. You can do bad all by yourself.#5 - Get up — Do not let the break up hold you down. Grieve for a period of time, then move on. Go out with girlfriends or yourself and enjoy a movie, dinner or other entertainment.#4 - Grow up — Do not hold grudges towards your ex. Hurt is painful, but what's more painful is holding him in prison in your mind. Break him free so you can be free. It will feel good, you'll see. FYI, the ex has probably moved on, so should you.#3 - Hush up — Listen to what your gut feeling tells you. If the evidence is there or you just know you can do better, nine times out of ten you are right. Be patient, you will find the one you desire.#2 - Give up — End the fantasy in your head of getting back together. If the two of you tried to work things out and no success, it's because one party is working hard while the other is hardly working at it. You can't pull the weight for the other. Two is an even number, meaning it has to be 50/50. Why should you wait and ponder in your mind if you will be together again.#1 - Close up — Your legs and save your goodies for someone else. BOOTY CALLS do not work for MOST women. We are not men. We get attached, while men don't. Women, our body part is the "House" and the men body part is "The Visitor". Some visitors go from house to house not even trying to find a home, just wanting a place to lay for the night. But for us, we only have one house and we have to keep it clean (if you know what I mean). So the next time "a visitor" wants to play house, tell that visitor, "This House Is Not Your Home".Sincerely,Victoria DYour Motivational FriendFounder of Me Myself and LifeA Movement To Motivate All Womenhttp://mmlcommunity.memyselfandlife.com
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Good News! We reached our maximum capacity for almost a week, however, we were able to secure additional lines for tonight.
Be sure to call in to hear Richelle’s Top 7 Tips for Recession Busters, 3 Ways to grow your business right now, 17 FREE ways to promote your business online and offline, plus the 7 Essential Lists to have in your business….
Richelle Shaw is our resident business building expert and multi-millionaire mompreneur who started with no money, no investors, no grants, no loans and no credit. She built her company after losing it all in the 9/11 Tragedies. She is accustomed to building a business in this type of economy. Her tips were fantastic yesterday in the Chat Room – click here to read the comments. http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=932382%3ATopic%3A239311
Or click here to listen to the last call. Check out her profile and comments from the first call here!
http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=932382%3ATopic%3A237802
This is a rare opportunity to have her take time out of her busy schedule to help you build your business. What are you waiting for? Register now to receive call in numbers and times PLUS the NOTES to follow along.
Register for the call right here: http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/page/page/show?id=932382%3APage%3A233218
LH
p.s. did you see her profiled in Black Enterprise with Oprah? Click here to see
http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=932382%3ABlogPost%3A238236Read more…
Posted by Richelle Shaw on October 17, 2008 at 4:15pm
Hey Sistas:I had been dreaming of this day my whole life. I knew I wanted to own a business and I lusted after this magazine all the time. OK so I was told I would get the cover....but they decided to put an unknown on the cover (smile)Tuesday, is the new Tele-Seminar only on BBWO where I detail what you can do right now in this economy to make money!Oh yeah, and it is not just have the right mindset... I get the laws of attraction and think to grow rich however, we need more than positive thoughts. You are entrepreneurs - you already have a great mindset.Click the banner above to register PLUS, LaShanda and I will be in the FORUM soon to answer your questions - but only for those that register.Or click here to go directly to the page :http://sistapreneurs.ning.com/page/page/show?id=932382%3APage%3A233218Richelle
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Hello to all my BBWO online friends. I wanted to take the time to write this blog post today because I think it is an issue that many of us struggle with. In addition, it was something that Richelle touched on in her online chat today with LaShanda and that LaShanda has said to us over and over again.As many of you know, I create natural bath and body products with the aim of adding moisture to the skin. I use shea butter, cocoa butter, virgin coconut oil and several other oils. As black women (and men) we are fighting ashiness, especially in the winter. We are no strangers to grease. Not those of us who were brought up on Vaseline and Crisco and used A&D ointment on our babies' bottoms (I'd slather that stuff on my baby's bottom!! It' was like an inch thick.)When I first started out, I gained a lot of knowledge from boards where there weren't a great deal of Black women, or alt least they weren't many of them posting. The advice was to add cornstarch to your butter to "cut down on greasiness". So I did. And I chased after a target market that was not very interested in my products, or at least from what I could tell from click and sales.Now, a year later, with my experiences with BBWO and other sites of its kind, as well as the many Black business folks I interact with on Twitter, I've finally come to understand and embrace my target market. It's not about trying to sell to the world or to exclude certain demographics. It's about being REAL.My products are meant for people like me - black women with children who have eczema - (Eva's Shea Buttah is the mix I use on my own little one's eczema) but also want a touch of luxury for themselves. The products are affordable and handmade with love by me - Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.By the way, I took the cornstarch out of my recipe for success, both literally and figuratively (wink) - why stunt the effectiveness of the pure natural butter on your skin? (big grin)Understanding your target market is so important - it' saves you a lot of time, money and effort.Currently, I am working on a blog post about exactly how I found my target market - will post when I'm done!And of course, don't forget to visit www.neosoulessentials.com - we now have layaway and Gift Baskets for Christmas and Kwanzaa.
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