virtual assistants supporting small and medium sized business with their social media marketing or admin support
September 12, 2011 Leave a Comment
We are really pleased to have Lu Turner join the Social Medi@ Mums collective. Lu has exerience in PR and will be helping our clients with press releases, award applications and media traing.Here she helps you with the questions What isVirtualPR? Read more of this post
December 28, 2011 Leave a Comment
Sorry we are not as up to date on our blog as normal – we have been really busy 
This year has been a brilliant year for Social Medi@ Mums and now we are expanding.
Our new site goes live in 2012 and we hope you’ll love it as much as we do.
We would like to raise a virtual glass to you all and see you when we relauch in 2012.
October 31, 2011 Leave a Comment
I asked our lovely client Maxine from Gander Kids to writes about her recent experience visiting Fun on four at John Lewis.
Wearing my new of Mumpreneur I was pleased to be invited to the launch of John Lewis’ new four million pound refit of the Children’s Department on the 4th floor on Monday. It was a real privilege to be able to be able to look at things from the consumer perspective especially since our P’kolino Chalk Table is due to launch on the John Lewis website any day now.
Of course I took my most experienced and professional “little testers” with me FJ (aged 7) and Little A (aged 3). They have tested most of my Gander Kids products and are tough critics. We escaped the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street and as we rode the escalator to the 4th floor the excitement built. We were greeted at the top of the escalator by very courteous staff and some extremely impressive full size Star Wars characters made completely of Lego and some great Lego feature walls (I’d love them in my house!). The feel of the floor was fresh and light and as we started to explore, the girls didn’t feel scared to touch and interact with the display products.
We dropped our coats off at the cafe and FJ quickly moved in on the display of some of the John Lewis Christmas Top toys. After touching almost everything she settled in on the Fur Real Cookie toy. A life like interactive Labrador dog that includes accessories exclusive to John Lewis and retails for £69.95, definitely a firm favourite. Meanwhile Little A was busy monopolising the Sylvanian John Lewis Department Store £79.95. I have to say I really liked this product, a bit different from traditional dolls houses and is packed with a myriad of accessories including furniture and one family.
Given the ages of my girls they were less drawn to the products for the older children (or big kids like me). However we did have a play with the Playmobil Top Agents remote control car and the Paper Jamz Instant Rockstar (already on FJ’s Christmas list). We also paid a visit to the Nintendo area which is along with the Lego area strategically placed next to the shoe department to help keep the children distracted while trying on a multitude of shoes. Again very clean and tactile, I could certainly see adults sneakily enjoying this area too.
Our verdict on the new refit is top marks for a fantastic shopping experience. If you are looking for an afternoon out with the kids, it’s worth visiting the 4th floor at John Lewis – it is very tactile, bright and exciting. If you can’t resist your little angels pester power there are many products you can buy across different price bands and some fantastic stocking filler ideas so that everyone stays happy.
The below link shows some of the toys mentioned
http://www.johnlewis.com/Magazine/Feature.aspx?Id=939
About Maxine Lewis: Mum of two, Founder of Gander Kids the award winning distributor of play furniture, toys and rugs and winner of the 2011 Mumpreneur UK Best Start up Award.
September 23, 2011 Leave a Comment
I was lucky enough to be supported by a lovely Twitter friend last year to attend The Business Mums Conference in Brighton and yet again I am lucky enough to have got a sponsored place from friend and client Mummy Looks Fab. I love how the mums I have met in business by themselves or as partnerships are so spirited and helpful to other mums starting out. Read more of this post
August 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
Staying organised has never been my best forte; I am normally a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl. But running my own fledgling home baking business has taught me that I need to keep on top of things as I have to make sure that I have ingredients in for the right cakes at the right time, taking orders correctly, and fulfilling those orders on time and making sure my clients are satisfied.
1) My number one top tip is to keep a daily to do list in a dedicated notebook, and each day when you sit down at the end of the day and review your list make sure you transfer any things that did not get done to the top of the next days list, that way you are always completing task before you take on others from a new day and will feel like you are succeeding.
2) Make sure if you are speaking to a client and taking down instructions that you run through everything you have discussed and details you have taken that way you can make no mistakes when delivering your finished product and you have written confirmation of what is required of you.
3) If you are working from home or from an office keep your space clear and clean this will help you to keep your head clear.
4) Don’t be afraid to ask for help, it does not mean you cannot cope it means that you are being honest and will get things done for a deadline without killing yourself.
5) Take time out if you are feeling stressed, even if it is a five minute breather, it could be just enough time to get your head clear and re focus.
6) Have a really good filing system, even if you are working from home, being able to find the thing you need quickly it can save you so much time and will allow you to get on with your next task.
These always help me and when I feel like I am losing time I always remind myself of what I can do to make things easier!
July 12, 2011 Leave a Comment
I’ve been working with a few clients and all differ in how they schedule using Hootsuite. Some schedule for the following days, some schedule for over a month. When is scheduling appropriate?
After launching Uniquely Mum after moving away from Mamma McCann I’ve noticed my tweeting schedule has changed, my following on Twitter has seen an increase and so have my readers. The difference is I’m not scheduling tweets to go out at various times, it all comes as the post is written. Read more of this post
