Books: The Perfect Christmas Gift

At Christmas you should receive something you want, something you need, something to eat and something to read. 

My friends at Ace Inspire have something to read covered: A special Christmas Business and Blogging Bundle for you. Get Blogging: The Essential Guide, Making Money Online and Marketing: The Essential Guide for £24 that’s a saving of £8.87!
They also have:
Commercial Writing: How to earn a living as a business writer £12.99
A Guide to Promoting Your Business (£15)
Plus a selection of ebooks ideal for those with eReaders.
The perfect gifts for business owners small or large.

Their last postal date is tomorrow 12th December so be quick!

Disclosure: I work for Ace Inspire writing the blog Become a Mumpreneur. It was my choice to share their Christmas offer on this blog, I was not paid for this post. But I do like their books - especially anything about blogging!

Be a Better Blogger - free course!

In November 2009 Erica Douglas launched the Mum Blogger E-Course and since then almost 1000 people have signed up and taken the 35 week course.

The course teaches you the basics of starting a blog through to how to promote and monetise your blog. The lessons are delivered weekly in manageable chunks so you can complete them around your busy life.

The course is full of information and videos to help you along your way, but it's closing this Friday September 7th. 

I can quite honestly say that this course changed my life. From wanting to simply improve upon my hobby I have become a professional blogger. I highly recommend it.

And it's free. 

You can sign up here.

Disclosure: I was paid to write about this on the Become a Mumpreneur blog but it was my choice to share it here because I really do think the course is brilliant.

A Mother’s Work

A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." Merriam-Webster Dictionary

This meme was started by mother.wife.me.and I have been tagged by the lovely Louise at My GorgeousBoys who I am pleased to say I have met in Real Life – twice!

It’s an opportunity for women to give their personal perspective and experience on modern motherhood.

The rules are as follows:

Post the Rules

Answer the questions in as much or as little detail as suits you

Leave a comment on MotherWifeMe so we can keep track of the meme

Tag three people and link them on your blog

Let them know you tagged them

Tweet loudly about taking part using #amothersworkmeme

Here are the questions and the all important answers

Did you work before becoming a mum?

Yes, I was proud to be the administration manager for the neurosurgical operating theatres in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. In the evenings I had my own business practicing as a clinical hypnotherapist.

What is your current situation?

After maternity leave I returned to the hospital part time and accepted a lower grade role as a medical secretary, because the admin manager role would not have worked as a job-share. When the government made financial cuts to the NHS last summer I volunteered for a mutually agreed resignation scheme and started my own business as a writer, blogger and virtual assistant. That was a struggle to get off the ground but it’s going a bit better now. I did an online course in becoming a mumpreneur with Ace Inspire.

Freestyle your chance to put your own view across on the subject?

I definitely think our society does not value motherhood as much as some other cultures. I think changes in the economy and expected lifestyle mean that more mothers feel they need to work to make ends meet. Perhaps I grew up in a rose-tinted, nostalgic 1970’s world where mothers did not work; but historically I think working class mothers usually did work. Childcare for the working class was not paid for but shared among local family members. Now we often live so far from our family members that we have to pay for childcare. To be honest it seems like a constant struggle to earn enough to justify the cost of childcare, and I sometimes feel guilty that children as young as mine have such a long day in nursery. (I work at home three days a week.)

I’m pleased that women got the vote, the contraceptive pill and the freedom to choose a fulfilling career but who was it who famously said that women aren’t just having it all, they’re now doing it all?* My husband helps a lot with shopping, cooking and childcare, but I wish he didn’t have to, as he works full time and commutes a long distance every day.

It’s really hard juggling work, laundry, childcare etc, but I think it always has been for women.  I’m currently experimenting with self-employed flexible working. I have the freedom to take the day off if my child is ill, but then I don’t have any holiday pay or sick pay, and have to make up the lost hours some other way. My husband would like to be at home with the kids more than he is, but we cannot afford for him to give up his well-paid job.

At the moment I’m working on building up my business to a point when it pays enough to contribute generously to our family income, and yet will allow me to work just in school hours so I can be there when my daughters get home: At least, that’s the dream!

I would like to tag Gemma, Penny and Kizzy.

“It’s all so different today, I hear every mother say.”

The Rolling Stones. Mother’s Little Helper.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Ace Inspire and Amazon. (Hey, I’m just trying to contribute to our family income!)

I recommend The Secret World of the Working Mother, Fiona Millar but my favourite book ever is Ramlin Rose: The Boatwoman's Story by Sheila Stewart, which describes how working boatwomen used to juggle childcare, shopping, cooking and ‘cabin chores’ with steering the butty for twelve hours a day.

*Linda Kelsey, editor of ‘She’ magazine in the early nineties.

Friday Rant: Never Enough Time

 Until recently I’d never joined in with Muddling Along Mummy’s Friday Rant and now I’m joining in twice in two months! (I love her blog by the way, good honest writing, from the heart.)

This morning we were up at six; the girls complained through breakfast, The Doctor rushed to commute to London and I persuaded everyone to get dressed and out in the double pushchair down a muddy towpath for the half hour walk to nursery. We’d not even got to Marsworth bottom lock before the pushchair got a puncture. While I blurted out some mildly child-friendly curses Big Sister suggested taking the pushchair back to the boat and getting a taxi. I concurred. So I bundled them back home, took them to nursery in a taxi and returned home to face a to-do list that looks like a peculiar pile of noodles in my head:

Boil the kettle to do the dishes, run the engine to get the electric to run the washing machine. Write some emails and write some blogs for clients. I have a full day’s work to do for my business, but it makes sense if I also squeeze in the dishes and the laundry and now I’m going to have to fix the pushchair puncture. Must read some more of the massive tome Social Media Marketing for Dummies before the library insist on having it back. I need to implement some of the tips in that book How to Get Things Done without Trying Too Hard . I wish I had some spare time to read more blogs and leave supportive and witty comments. Must remember to have lunch. Must remember to collect kids. I want to write a book called I Don’t Know How She Does It (On a Narrowboat). I want to write ebooks and create passive income streams. I want to cook impressive meals for my husband and keep the boat spick and span. I want to laze on my bed in our cabin reading a memoir about a Gypsy Girl . But there’s never enough time and it must be down to planning and I must plan to make more time to make a plan!


Ever felt like that?!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon, to several good books I wish I had time to finish!

Family Friendly Working

Today I am excited to be the featured mumpreneur on Antonia Chitty's website  http://www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk/
Antonia is an inspiring writer and mumpreneur who combines writing non fiction books with running her own PR Agency, ACPR which specialises in PR training for entrepreneurs.

Family Friendly Working is for you if:


■~ you have a job, but feel fed up with trying to do too much in too little time

■~ feel torn between work and spending time with your children

■~ dream of being a mumpreneur

■~ would you love to find work that fits in with the family

■~ are running your own business and want resources and support
 
 
 
Thanks to Antonia and Kizzy for featuring me today.
 
Become a Mumpreneur (Affiliate link)

My brand new blog is here!

At the beginning of this year I started a business blog covering the freelance writing, business blogging and virtual assistant side of life! I might write about blogging and social media tips, answer FAQs, showcase my writing, review relevant books, tell you about my experience and history or give you an insight into working from home on a narrowboat. I haven't really decided yet.
Now that I've got a few clients for business blogging and am doing some social media promotion and freelance writing work I thought I'd better add a blog to my business site.
Services include business blogging, content producing, copywriting, audiotyping/transcription, secretary service, virtual assistant, and social media. I've put some special January sale prices on the site too, as a special offer! Even if you don't need this kind of service, perhaps you could like me on Facebook so that your friends know about my new business, and I can get out there and promote their small businesses with my super blogging powers!
I've got a good feeling about 2012...

http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/

How to Change Your Life - in four lines.

Leo Babauta

I've been reading the Zen Habits blog for some time, nodding along in agreement with Leo Babauta's ideas on how to find simplicity in the chaos of our daily lives.

“It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.”

Zen Habits is one of the Top 25 blogs and Top 50 websites in the world, with about 225,000 readers, and it is uncopyrighted. The blog is 'reader supported', which means it's advert and affiliate free. Leo sells books and ebooks through his blog. 

While I love and agree with Leo's ideas I have yet to put any of them into action. But a recent blog post of his summed up his methods into a manageable nutshell.

The Zen Habits Method

1. Start very small.

2. Do only one change at a time.

3. Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results).

4. Be grateful for every step you take.

The full article is here
Leo then clarified the 'single change' method here Make one change

I am a wife and mother, a writer, and a freelance secretary. I have anxiety habits and feel overwhelmed by the amount of things that somewhere in my past I decided I should achieve. My email inbox needs more than de-cluttering – I have simply subscribed to too many blogs, newsletters and job alerts from freelancing websites. I'm a narrowboater so I have extra chores like filling the water tank, moving the boat and getting rid of domestic waste. I'm also a student of the online course Become a Mumpreneur (Affiliate link) I work very hard but lack focus. My new business is not bringing in enough money.

I'm going to start very small. I'm going to make one change. I will be present and enjoy the activity. I will be grateful for the step that I take.

My Zen Habit this week is to begin to transcribe medical letters for an online dictation company. It's not glamorous or creative. But it's a step towards building up a work-at-home business.

I have written it down. That means it will happen.

Mumpreneur - Fun, Friendly and Achievable?

Click here for free eCourses

What do you think of when you hear the word “Mumpreneur”?
I’ve been doing the Become a Mumpreneur course for a few months and I’m loving it. It’s delivered in bite size chunks to my email inbox in a way that allows me to progress at my own pace without feeling overwhelmed. I already have sixteen ideas on how to create multiple income streams which will allow me to work flexibly from home.
I’ve always thought that having too many ideas buzzing around in your head indicates a lack of focus, but receiving structured tasks and challenges by email is like having your own personal business mentor to keep you on track. I now believe that all of the crazy ideas in my mind can be turned into incomes.
I am mother to a three year old and a one year old, and I am also a part time secretary, and yet somehow I do manage to fit little bits of entrepreneurship into my week.
I’ve read some recommended reading, and jotted down lots of ideas in to my Mumpreneur notebook. I sold second hand books outside my narrowboat and increased my blog traffic by joining in linkys. I set up a Facebook page for the blog and set up some affiliate marketing programs. I pitched a couple of freelance articles. I joined ebuzzing.com and Opinium the survey site. I also absorbed a huge amount of information about online marketing from attending the Cybermummy parent blogging conference in June. I was initially worried that the event was going to be full of career driven mega-mums, confident and possibly even power dressing. However, I actually had a lot of fun and found that even the most influential, charismatic, high profile bloggers were people, just like me, and not intimidating after all.
I’ve always shied away from any kind of marketing and business studies mistakenly thinking that it would be boring and that I would be no good at it. I had a belief that I don’t have a “business head” and the word “entrepreneur” makes me think of high flying Richard Branson types – certainly not me! But the word “Mumpreneur” sounds fun, friendly and achievable. It suggests that being a mum comes first and the ‘preneur comes a close second. That does sound like something I’d like to be. Becoming a businesswoman is a journey, but I was absolutely astounded to find out that it can also be fun.

This article was first published as a guest post on the Become a Mumpreneur website.

Find out for yourself how fun, friendly and achievable becoming a mumpreneur is and sign up for their free Mum to Mumpreneur in a Month e course.

Visit http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/  for remote secretarial services, web copy and design, or freelance writing commissions.

This post contains affiliate links.

How to Make Money From Blogging

eBuzzing

I wouldn't say that a blog can directly earn you money, but you can earn money through or with your blog. It takes a lot of time to build it up, and you need to increase your readership to about 100 visitors per day. However, once it's set up it can be a low maintenance passive income. My top 5 tips are,

1) Get more readers. Use Twitter and Facebook. Tara Cain (top mummy blogger) has written a great article for beginners, on how to use Twitter. 

Comment on other people's blogs daily. Join a bloggers network like BritMums. http://www.britmums.com/

2) Join eBuzzing. eBuzzing is a platform for bringing advertisers and bloggers together. Bloggers can monetise their blog by blogging in support of campaigns initiated by advertisers.

3) Affiliate marketing. I am a member of Amazon Associates because I love to read and write about books. You can select books relevant to your blog's topic. Like this: Have you read Narrow Margins by Marie Browne? It's about a family who move onto a narrowboat and refurbish it while living aboard.

4) Join the Ace Blogger free eCourse. It's a step by step guide to growing and starting a blog including using Facebook, SEO, favicons, gravatars, slideshows and more. It might sound technical but I found it was fun! (And I'm technophobic!)

5) Write great content. Write something unique to you. Write about your passions. Write regularly.

Take action now! Leave a comment below with a brief description of yourself and your blog. Some of the other people reading Narrowboat Wife may be interested in reading yours!



Visit http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/ for remote secretarial services, web copy and design, or freelance writing commissions.

Visit Become a Mumpreneur for free eCourses and more.

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Stuck on You



Sticky the Fairy

 When I got back to the boat there was a parcel with my name on it on the front deck.

Royal Mail don’t deliver to people of no fixed abode so how on earth did this get here? I thought.
“I hope you like it,” said a little voice. I looked up and saw a tiny pink fairy fluttering beside the front door.
“I’m Sticky,” she said. “I mean my name is Sticky. It’s nearly Back To School time. I visit all the good mummy bloggers and give them sticky labels and other personalised products.”
“Really?” I said suspiciously. “My children aren’t at school.”
“You’d be surprised how many things get lost at nursery,” said the fairy. “If your children’s things are labelled you have a much better chance of them being returned, or identifying them in the lost property box!”
I sat down on the side-bench in the well-deck and began to open the parcel: A pink backpack with my daughter’s name on it!
“It seems quite strong and sturdy,” I said.
“Child proof!” grinned Sticky.

There are packets of sticky labels in fun shapes with both of my daughters’ names on them; cupcakes, fairies, unicorns, mermaids and butterflies. There’s also the cutest pack of clothing labels that read, ‘Melmoth Girls’.
“I remember my mum having to painstakingly sew our name labels into our school uniforms each year,” I mused.
“Not anymore,” said Sticky. “These just iron on!”
“How cool is that?” I replied, smiling. “These are all much more cute and funky than I remember name labels being when I was a kid.”
“Well it’s not just about the labels,” said Sticky. “There’s drink bottles, learning books, canvases, height charts, backpacks, lunchboxes, library bags, personalised clothing and more.”
“Where?” I asked, looking around the front deck for more.
“On the website!” laughed the fairy, her voice fading as she fluttered up towards the sky.
“Is there anything for mums?” I asked cheekily. The fairy rolled her eyes and then waved her magic wand. A small packet of business cards appeared at my feet. I picked them up and opened the packet. They’re so much better than my old business cards. They’re blue translucent ovals of plastic with a squiggly flower drawn onto each one. A few days later I gave some to my friend who works in publishing.
“In case you’re ever telling someone about my blog,” I said. “It has my blog address and everything on it.”
“These are cool,” she smiled. “Where did you get them from?”
“Well, because of that blogging conference, Cybermummy, you know? I got to review some products from a company called Stuck on You. I just loved the little Bloggers Survival Kit bag that they gave us; and a cool little notebook full of tick boxes that says ‘Things To Blog About’ on the cover. I even used that bag as my handbag for a bit.
Am I weird?”
“You’re weird if you believe there is really a little fairy called Sticky,” said my friend.

Disclosure: I received some free samples from Stuck On You. I was not told what to write. I was not bewitched by a fairy. I genuinely love their products. Carrie Felton is a mumpreneur who first began at home creating labels for her son, and now has a global business.

http://www.stuckonyou.biz/ - Labels for every Tom, Dick or Harriet

Back to School Super Special - they deliver within 7 - 10 days!

Become a Mumpreneur – Affiliate Link

MiFi Changed My Life!

Huawei E585

Three MiFi Mobile Broadband Review

Did you know that half (48 per cent) of mums go online late at night to catch up on things they don’t have the time to do during the day? A third of these time starved‘Midnight Mums’ (33 per cent) get less than six hours sleep a night*. Three Mobile suggest that mums can save 135 hours a year by having access to the internet while out and about. So, does it help?

Denise Van Outen (celebrity mum of one) said,

“Becoming smartphone savvy has been a great eye opener and I’ve enjoyed making dead time, such as standing in shopping queues and waiting for friends, more productive”.

I have recently left my job to become a mumpreneur and most of my business is done working on line. I do spend a lot of time waiting for a browser that cannotdisplay the webpage. When the mobile dongle signal strength is weak I click on‘Help and Support’.

“How to improve your signal strength.

Think about the positioning of your dongle. E.g. upstairs will be better than a basement flat. Some rooms get a stronger signal than others depending on thickness of walls.”

These suggestions are only helpful if you have walls, stairs, and perhaps a house. The software creators might want to add to that,

“Your mobile signal strength is directly related to the levels of outstanding rural beauty, peace and quiet from which you are trying to reach the outside world.”

(Distance from nearest town) + (Beauty of rural scenery) + (distance from launderette) divided by (a large number) = possible mobile internet signal strength.

(See previous post: Communications Are Down)

When Three allowed me to borrow a MiFi for two weeks I was so excited that it could be the answer to all of my problems! Prices for a MiFi pay plan start at £9.91 per month.
(Three also offers all-you-can-eat data on both The One Plan and Pay As You Go packages, allowing mums to blog, social network and shop without worrying about the cost.)

Deep canal cutting

Deep Canal Cutting

The day that I received it we were moored in a deep canal cutting where the mobile phone signal is weak. If it worked there, it should work anywhere. Once the kids were in bed we quickly and easily set up the MiFi and turned on our laptops. I tried the MiFi in various locations, like hanging it near the front door inside a child’s umbrella. I started fiddling with my blog and my husband started live streaming a channel 4 TV programme on his lap top. We were impressed. Everything worked perfectly.

We moved the boat to the next village where the signal was better. I also took the laptop and MiFi away for a weekend in Exeter, and I used it during the week to work on my blog on the commuter train. My iPhone connects to the signal automatically whenever the MiFi is turned on.

Computer Says "No"

However, one day at home I could not get on line at all. I

called 3 Customer Support and quickly spoke to a lovely man who was based in a town just outside Mumbai. I am techno-phobic and had no idea what my computer error messages meant, but the technical support guy remotely connected to my computer and talked me through resetting the MiFi. It turned out that my poor lap top was very confused; trying to talk to my 3 dongle and connect to the MiFi all at the same time. He set the system so that it now looks for the MiFi first, and he kept apologising for the time it was taking him. I found the customer service to be excellent. The phone call did take 55 minutes, but I don’t think that is Three’s fault. I do find it amazing that someone on the other side of the world can be helping a techno-phobic Boat-Wife somewhere on the Grand Union Canal; pretty futuristic don’t you think? When I started living on a boat, in the year 2000 I had some kind of archaic dial-up thing that used Blue-Tooth to talk to my mobile. Things have really changed since then!

So now, I am really looking forward to saving 135 hours a year. If you divide it by seven that’s 19 working days I could spend on my new mumpreneur business: The Freelance Narrowboatwife. Or I could spend it narrowboating with my family...

To learn more about the #MumsOnThree campaign, visit the Three blog or the On theGo Facebook tab.

* Research was carried out by OnePoll in March 2011 for Three. The research was carried out amongst 3,000 mums with children under 16 years old in the UK.

I was loaned the the 3 E585 MiFiMobile Wi-Fi free of charge for two weeks so that I could review it.

This post contains an affiliate link to Become a Mumpreneur.

What would you do with 135 hours?

The Freelance Narrowboat Wife

The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

Today is my last working day at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

The National is a leading centre for the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with a wide range of neurological conditions such as epilepsy, MS, Alzheimer's, stroke and head injuries. With its neighbour, the Institute of Neurology, it is a major international centre for research and training. I have been proud to work there and met amazing, kind, funny and clever people.

Over the past six years I’ve been a medical secretary, theatre secretary and the administration manager of the neurosurgical operating theatres. I’ve dealt with suicidal callers undergoing cluster headache attacks and I’ve been in to the operating theatre to watch leading neurosurgeons remove a brain tumour. I went to the ‘wrap’ party after the BBC completed their documentary The Brain Hospital.

I’ve listened sympathetically and resolved patient problems while working as a Patient Advice Liaison Officer. I’ve had two children, gone part time and juggled my hospital commitments with building up my clinical hypnotherapy practice. I did a presentation on hypnosis for childbirth at The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (also a part of UCLH Trust.)

But the government wants to cut costs and the NHS has offered me a resignation scheme.

I am going to go freelance, providing freelance secretarial services from home, and also doing freelance writing, blogging and copywriting. I am working on building an income from my blog and will be selling children's books, artwork and other products all with a narrowboat theme.

Please consider me or recommend me for all your outsourced secretarial and transcription/audiotyping needs.

Use Twitter and Facebook to share this page: Freelance Services with your friends and colleagues who may find it of use.

Subscribe to this blog and visit often to see what I am up to and check out the watercolour painting I did of Uxbridge Lock, which is the first product for sale in my arts and craft shop.

Busy mummies – try my self hypnosis mp3 ‘Massage For Your Mind’

Twenty minutes of ‘me’ time can give you more mental energy to get everything else done.

Top mummy blogger Tara Cain said,

"The sooooothing voice of clinical hypnotherapist Peggy over even more soooothing music.

After just one week of listening to it a handful of times, I am addicted. In a good way. It's supposed to help improve mental calmness, relaxation, confidence, competence, and better quality sleep. What part of that sentence do you need me to say again?!"

I am doing an inspiring eCourse called Become a Mumpreneur and am setting up multiple income streams. When I'm not doing all that I will be pitching my memoir 'The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife' to literary agents. On my 'days off' I will be doing the boat chores and housework and looking after my two beautiful daughters. (Why do my friends and family accuse me of trying to do too much?)

So, goodbye pension, security, holiday pay, friends and colleagues. Hello to the freelance life.

Narrowboat Wife BA(Hons) D.Hyp

Writer, blogger, content producer, copywriter, audiotypist, secretary, bookkeeper, hypnotherapist, artist.

Do you try to do too much? How many hats do you wear? How many plates have you got spinning?

This post contains an affiliate link.

Internet Hero Saves My Technophobic Ass



Costa del Sol Image Credit: Kevin Poh

Review: Alternate Creations Web Design

Have you ever had one of those weeks where a 7 am phone call triggers a family crisis? You spend every minute on the phone and email trying to sort out something urgent and personal, whilst also juggling childcare and your working life, and through the chaos of it all an innocent little email pops up in your inbox requesting payment to renew your web hosting? You know that kind of week, where you’re about to move to a new boat, relocate to The Countryside and find a new nursery for the children? This is the kind of week I was having when I remembered that I definitely do not want to renew my web hosting agreement. The service was terrible; the design software included was counter-intuitive and frustrating. I urgently needed to relocate my hypnotherapy business website, and rebuild it before launching a new hypnotherapy practice in Hertfordshire. I told the hosting service that I was leaving and they said that I had 24 hours to get my technophobic ass out of their cyberspace.

It was time to ask for expert help from an old friend from art college. That’s right, I needed super-hero cyber-help from The Web Designer, at Alternate Creations. His speedy response was second to none.

So What did The Web Designer do?

Because my current website was expiring in the next 24 hours he immediately downloaded and saved all of the pages, text and pictures, zipped ‘em up small and sent them to me. Just like that.

He recommended a different web hosting service, introduced us online and got my domain name shifted over there.

He used Wordpress to create a simple template for me to build my new site on. But I’m just a simple Blogger girl so when the going got tough he gave me lots of technical support and advice via email, Facebook and Skype.

When I’d uploaded all of my text and pictures I’ll admit it looked a little messy. The Web Designer nipped in there and titled all the pages, tidied up the layout of the index page, made the top navigation links smaller so that they fit into one row and changed the page navigation order so it all made sense.

He did all of this from his office based on the Costa del Sol in Spain, so we didn’t even meet in Real Life!

So now I have my new on line professional work-space. I can sit back, put my feet up on the virtual desk and relax in my pixilated swivel chair, just waiting for the clients to come strolling in out of cyberspace.

The site that he helped me to create is www.hypnoticloop.co.uk ; simple and user friendly.

The Web Designer offers a variety of services at http://www.alternate-creations.com/ (Not just design.)

Pop over, take a peek. He’s very friendly. You may be surprised at what super-hero-cyber-help can do for you, at a budget to suit your pocket.

Disclosure: Alternate Creations provided their services to me free of charge. They did not ask me to write a review.

If you liked this article or think that your friends might like some super-cyber-help please share the link on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the buttons below the integrity badge.

Boat-Wife

xx



CyberMummy 2011

The Brewery, EC1

Last Saturday I got up at Stupidly Early O’Clock, caught a train to London, battled against tube line closures and only just made it on time to a swishy EC1 conference venue. A very dapper feller in a top hat ushered me towards the entrance and my name badge with blog name was waiting for me at reception. When I arrived in the main conference space I was overwhelmed by a huge room of circular tables and a subtly lit stage with large boards displaying sponsors’ logos: This was big. There were over 400 delegates (and I estimated that only about four of them were men).
The number of UK mummy blogs has increased to around 2,500 in the last two years and the parent bloggers social network Brit Mums has a rapidly growing membership. The lead speaker was Sarah Brown, mum, campaigner, writer (and wife of the former prime minister), and the choice of seminars to attend throughout the day was mind boggling.

An array of big name brands dispensed free goodie bags within a market place of stalls at ‘CyberMummy Central’ and the spontaneous comments and thoughts of the social networking twitter-bugs were displayed on an ever rolling Twitter wall. In the Recharge Room you could get your hair or make up done, and enjoy a massage.

The conference opened with Lord Richard Allan, Facebook’s director of policy for the EU. I attended workshops on Marketing Your Blog, Working With Brands and Making Money, Blogging Essentials (Stats, SEO, RSS feeds, design) and Blog-Life Balance (time management). I scribbled furiously in a notebook (supplied free in one of the goody bags) and absorbed a phenomenal amount of information. I was inspired by Erica Douglas’s seminar and really enjoyed chatting to Antonia Chitty about the exciting new direction that I’m taking my life into.

I’m doing Erica and Antonia’s Become a Mumpreneur course at the moment and I’m loving it. It’s delivered in bite size chunks to my email inbox in a way that allows me to progress at my own pace without feeling overwhelmed. I already have sixteen ideas on how to create multiple income streams which will allow me to work flexibly from home, and I've only been on the course for a month. Erica now earns a full time income in part time hours whilst also studying full time. Antonia Chitty is a researcher, journalist, mumpreneur, and author and is full of amazing ideas to help me to create my own business as a freelance writer and much more.

I was initially worried that the event was going to be full of career driven super-mums who are way more confident than me. However, everyone I met agreed that although it felt a little odd to approach a complete stranger with “Hi I’m (Blogger) from  (My Mummy Blog) we were all in the same boat and it was actually quite exciting to meet bloggers in real life that I previously only ‘knew’ on line. I also found that even the most influential, charismatic, high profile bloggers were people, just like me, and not intimidating at all!

The day was rounded off by crowd sourced keynote speakers reading inspiring posts from their blogs. We were in tears at a mothers tale of childhood cancer, and then in fits of laughter at the witty words of others.

At the after party (sponsored by Three) I got tipsy quickly, ate crisps, mingled and left the building at the end of it all completely exhausted and laden with bags and bags of free give-away goodies.

The next day The Sunday Independent (26/06/11) reported,
“Forget Mumsnet... A new breed of “cybermums” is using the internet as an office, PR agency and campaign HQ to launch businesses and charities from their front room.”

Some bloggers were sponsored by brands to attend Cybermummy, but I bought my own ticket as a treat to myself. For the experience, the amount that I learned, the lovely people that I met and the bubble of inspiration and motivation that I floated home on, it was worth every penny.