Playing Around...

I have been M.I.A. for a bit.

 I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday because I was uber sick. I found out I have an upper respiratory infection. I am on meds right now, one being a steroid...I am tweaking my blog right now because I can't sleep because of said steroid...grr!

 I have been up since 12:00 a.m....it's now 4:10 a.m. 

Some good news...I have been decorating for S.R.'s birthday party this week. It's gone a lot slower just because I have felt miserable, but it's coming together. 

I hope to share some pics very soon:o)

I think I am going to try to lay back down:o)

Why word of mouth and how to get word of mouth

word of mouth is critical to business success. It doesn't matter what size of business you are running, word of mouth program has to be in place for your business. Word of mouth is the most primitive form of marketing known to mankind, YES! Think about it, how did we find things that we needed before any form of advertising medium existed? It is simple, we asked our family and friends about it. No other form of advertising can convince your potential buyers more than the experiences shared by your customers. Is your business getting word of mouth?

Google+ page stories: North Bowl

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of posts about small businesses on Google+ and their tips and tricks for managing a great page. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the videos in this series and join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page.

Recently we introduced you to Best Made Company, a group of outdoor enthusiasts that specializes in designing and handcrafting wilderness supplies. Next up we have North Bowl, a 21,000-square-foot bowling center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Oron Daskal and his staff are passionate about creating a fun, social space at the lounge and alley for their local community. In fact, he says, he probably “sees the most high fives in the city.”



One of the great things about Google+ Pages is the ability to share relevant content with the right people using Google+ Circles. Take a tip from North Bowl and learn how you can use circles with your page:



Want to get started with circles? Here are some quick tips:

• Create circles to target messages to particular groups. Say you have multiple locations, you may want to organize your followers by geographic areas, and thus, send deal updates to the most relevant people. Or say you want to share information with your employees. Just put them in a circle and make sure that only they get the message.
• Share your circles. Have you built a circle featuring all the experts in your field? Share it with the Google+ community! Click the Circles icon at the top of Google+, select the circle you’d like to share, and hit “Share this circle” at the top right of the page.
• Edit the order of your Circles. In your Circles dashboard, just click and hold on a circle in order to drag it to a new position on the page.

Want to learn more? Visit the Google+ Your Business site, and stay tuned for more Google+ stories and tips from small businesses. You can also watch all our Google+ page stories on YouTube.

How does your business use circles? Join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page and tag your posts #mybusinessstory.

Posted by Evelyn Lee, Google+ Pages Associate Product Marketing Manager

New Follower Button

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to let you all know that Google Friend Connect is shutting down March 1st...for those of you who have no clue what I am talking about...you remember that little button you clicked on my sidebar to become a follower? Well that little thing is going away.

However, I put a new little "follower" box up, so you can just click on it to become a "follower" again..

Easy Peasy:o)

And if you didn't know that you could sign up for emails, there is a little box for that too!

Drive-In Movie Night

Last night for Valentines Day, we celebrated at home with a Drive-In movie night. I made these Cars for the kids to sit in using some cardboard boxes, acrylic paint and foam sheets.

The kids LOVED them, and the hubs called me the best mom ever;o)

They were geared up and ready to go with their bean bags and travel pillows tucked inside for comfort.

 I attached little storage bins to the sides with clips to hold their food and drinks.

 Can you tell that S.R. wants to show off her Valentine card from her brother...when she opened it, she squealed and jumped up and down...unicorns are her favorite right now:o)

 ...and purple:o) Can you tell what the licence plate is supposed to say?

 E called his a hot wheels car:o)

And this was the concession area:o) These were some leftovers from E's 3rd birthday party...the decorations that is:o)

Our spread...

This is what was hanging under the refreshments sign. I just used publisher and one of the templates.

 And I had this hanging on the front door so that the hubs would know where to go when he arrived home...I found it online somewhere, copied and pasted in Publisher and added what I needed.

We had a fantastic evening, and the movie was really funny. I'd say that this was a great way to spend Valentines!! I hope our was as great as ours:o)

Participating in these Parties:

This was featured here:

TalkBin Stories: Patama Roj of Fraiche

Editor’s Note: TalkBin enables customers to send mobile messages to business owners in real-time, like a digital comment card. To learn more, visit talkbin.com.

The pace of life for a small business owner is unrelenting. Just ask Patama Roj, co-founder and owner of Fraiche, a company based in Palo Alto, California that serves homemade organic fresh and frozen yogurt, coffee and breakfast goods. Patama is dedicated to serving food that "speaks for itself," and customers are loving it.

With three locations though (two in Palo Alto and one in San Francisco), it’s hard to understand what’s going on across the business. That’s why Patama started using TalkBin to stay connected with customers even when she’s not in a particular store. Customers ask questions and provide feedback, which helps her understand exactly what's going on in each location. "It was important for me to find a way to get this feedback real-time," she says. And with TalkBin, business owners like Patama can receive this instant feedback without sharing personal mobile phone information, since TalkBin provides a special, customer-facing phone number and forwards feedback to your phone or email.

The ability to receive TalkBin messages on her cell phone makes responding quick and convenient for Patama as well. "Customers are always surprised to hear they're getting a text back from the owner!” she says.

Interested in using TalkBin in your store too? Get three months free when you sign up with promo code BLOGSMB-2 at www.talkbin.com/signup/user.

Posted by Qasar Younis, Product Manager

Happy Valentines Day

I hope you all are having a fantastic day. I wanted to share the Smilebox Card that we sent out to our family.

This free digital ecard created with Smilebox

Also, since S.R. is still recovering from strep throat, we decided to have a special girls day in...including manicures...

 along with heart-shaped mini pizzas.

Can I just say that I love have a girly tom-boy:o)

We have lots of fun things planned for this evening. I can't wait to share it with you all later on this week!! Gotta go get Mr. E so we can get ready for the festivities!!

Have a great Valentines guys!!