The key word here is “Certificates”.

Because I make it my mission through www.wahpm.com to ferret out all the scams on the market, I called – this one sounded too good to be true.

In fact, it is.

The operator on the line was named Chris.  (He was in Maine..it was cold there…whatever).  He made me take a short survey – how much do you spend in groceries each month, do you use store brand or name brand, how many family members etc.  Once the survey was complete he told me – congratulations!  Apparently I qualified.  They just needed a $7.95 dollar shipping and processing fee.

Wait….what?

Here’s how it all breaks down.

1) You do get COUPONS each month – not certificates.  You get $10.00 worth of coupons, and are charged $2.00 each time they are shipped out.  (But you’ll more than make up for that in your grocery savings….uh huh….)

2) They try to sell you into two different savings plans, at 14.95 a month, one for Gas and one for entertainment and groceries.  (So we are already at $30.00 a month plus $2.00 each time you order coupons, let’s say you do that two times a month…$34.00)

3) Upon further research you find out that the “Nelson Research Group” Is not Nelson at all.  It’s a company capitalizing on their name. 

So, of course I turned down the offer, nicely let them know it was ridiculous, and went on my way.

This is at best a poorly advertised campaign, but in truth, it’s a scam designed to separate you from your money – not save you money in the long run.

Here are some news stories regarding the same group.  Please note that the dollar amounts have changed a bit – but it’s still the same company  (and I use that term very loosely)

http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/dwym/story/Free-Groceries/LjfoQEK0WkeJIv0Amn1_CA.cspx

http://trendyeconomy.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-nelson-research-group-scam.html

http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/localshows/dontwasteyourmoney/story/Radio-Ad-offers-2-000-in-Free-Groceries/URn5n7dwMUiU1taXcLunIQ.cspx?p=2

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Okay, not well…but I’m getting the hang of it.

I’ve posted to several blog directories, and have tweeted and added listings to facebook.  Today I started with BlogUpp – a group which shares blog links and postings through a small, unobtrusive widget on the blog.  (you can see it on the blog here: http://someonewillbuyit.blogspot.com )

Time will tell on that one, to see if traffic increases.  The first day with BlogUpp I got about four views.  It wasn’t terrible.  I’ll update you on the progress of this one – it seems legitimate, and promising.  More info can be found here: http://www.blogupp.com

I’ve also listed with feedburner…so far, 13 subscribers – but I’ve only been listed a week.

We’ll see how much farther free, self-promotion gets us.

Wish me luck.

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There are a lot of services out there that help you promote your blog, many come with a fee, some are free – it’s just a matter of finding them.  The only problem is, are they any good?  Does it really get you any exposure?  What about keywords and sitemaps and all that stuff?

If you aren’t an SEO expert – which I’m not (but I know a few if you are looking), and if you have never promoted your blog before (with any success) – then you can join me on this blog promotion journey.

My goal?  To find the least expensive, yet most effective way to promote my new blog.  The blog in question is http://someonewillbuyit.blogspot.com – and I’ll post my efforts here and keep you updated on the progress.

First things first.  I registered the blog over at blogspot – it’s free to host, and they have some options that will help me get started promoting.   It’s also a part of Google, meaning it’s got a great host behind it.

Second – you have to understand that so far with Blogspot, I’ve found no way to upload a sitemap (that’s the nifty tool that website search engines use to tell others what is on your site) – however there is a way to submit your RSS feed (another handy tool that allows people to subscribe to your blog via email and portable hand held devices) as a site map.  There are a few hiccups with this as well, which I’ll delve into at a later date.

So far the progress on promoting the blog includes:

1) setting up the blog
2) creating some content and posting
3) Twitter and facebook status updates to let my friends know it’s there.
and 4) Submission to both Networked Blogs and Blogged – two blog directories that are free to post to and free to join.

I’ll keep you updated!

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The site is still being built – and so we are looking for beta testers to help us work out the kinks.  If you sign up now – and help us in this starting phase your membership will be free – for life.

Some of the benefits of the membership site are:

1) A forum to speak with other WAHPM’s
2) An archive resource of all the past (and future) teleseminars WAHPM has hosted or been a part of.
3) An ebook library with free downloads of different ebooks for WAHPM’s.  INCLUDING a free copy of Confessions of a Work At Home Mom.
4) A resource file with different office management files such as a time tracking and invoice creation workbook.
and more things to come!

We’d love to have you join us – http://www.wahpm.com/xoops

You won’t find the link on the site just yet – it’s going thru a bit of a face lift as well!

Speak with you all very shortly!

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Here is the video from the segment.  Although the segment was not directly related to WAHPM – it was about a very viable way stay at home moms can make an extra income from home!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34571924#34571924

It was very fun – and I’m glad we got the experience.

Enjoy!

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Here are some photos:

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You see, my nephew-to-be is named Matthew.  My nieces’ name is Courtney.  Wouldn’t it be cool – my sister and I thought collectively – to order those custom M&M’s in Navy blue with a single “c” printed on them, and also order some silver ones with the traditional “m”.  M and C, Matt and Courtney – cool right?  We thought so.

On line we went, placing our order on November the 2nd….remember this, it’s important later.  We wanted the candies to arrive well ahead of time so that we had time to put them in the 300 plus favor bags and tie them with an adorable snowflake ribbon that my sister found at Target.  My sister was concerned that with the special order, we’d need lots of time to get them printed and here, so she read every single line of information on the site.  I read it too.  Every word.  Every single disclaimer.  We gave them over a month to print and send them.  Everything seemed as though it would work.  Janene placed the order, was given a delivery date of December 2nd (a month away) and entered her credit card information.

Meanwhile we waited.  The candy we ordered from another site arrived as promised.  (20 lbs of Rock Candy Crystals if you were wondering).  The company even found it in their hearts to include a thank you gift for the order.  Amazing customer service, if you ask me.

December 2nd arrived.  No M&M’s.

Janene called.

The customer service department at M&M’s proceeded to apologize profusely.  Apparently the order had been lost – as can sometimes happen in “internet order land” – and they promised they’d be out within the next week.  “Completely our fault” and “we couldn’t be sorrier” as well as added attempts to ship it out next day air – at an additional charge to my sister….what???  The company messed up, and they wanted to charge her for overnight delivery…hmmm…She politely declined…we still had time.  The candy would ship that week and be here by the 10th.  Okay, still time.  Janene thanked them for being so prompt to fix the problem and hung up the phone.  It was exasperating, but at least they were making it right…sort of.

The 10th came and went.  Then the 11th.  Still no Candy.

Janene called.

“There’s a problem with the order.”

“??????”

“It’s company policy that we do not ship custom printed candies out with only one letter printed on them.  It goes against our trademark, the order has been held until a solution has been reached.”

again, “???????” – keep in mind, no mention of this on the website, in the fine print, or in the previous phone call regarding the delayed order.

M&M’s never once attempted to contact my sister regarding the order.  Not once.  Not via email, phone calls, or even snail mail.  At this point, we’d have settled for smoke signals…anything to show they were working on it.

After talking more with the rep, Janene decided to continue with the order.  “I suppose we can change the ‘C’ to simply read 2009 and leave it at that.  When can they be here?”

“For an additional charge, we can overnight them to you and have them there by the 18th.”

“??????????”

I’ll spare you the rest of the gory details, but after much prodding and escalating the call to management, it was determined that M&M’s would cover the rush shipping charge.

The 18th arrived, and the candy finally showed up on my sister’s door step.

Remember the previous candy company mentioned that sent the candy along with a thank you gift?

Nothing of the sort from M&M’s.  Not even a coupon for a discount off of her next order – should she decide she might ever want to go that route again.

Oh, and did I mention they arrived printed with a single ‘c’ on them?  Yep. That’s right.  So much for company policies and trademark.

Bottom line?  The custom printed M&M’s are a really cool concept.  I’ve considered ordering them myself a few times.  The M&M’s website is fun to play with, and offers all sorts of custom colors.  However – would I purchase from them again? Not anytime soon. Their customer service is severely lacking – and in an economy where people really aren’t spending on luxury items right now – I personally don’t believe they can afford to be so complacent about customer service and quality.  Did we get the order we asked for? Yes, we eventually did.  But I’ve got to tell you, it’s going to be a very long time before we try that again.  If you order from M&M’s, make sure you keep good records, and have a LOT of lead time.

That’s it, from my perspective.

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Anyway, they had been contacted by the Today Show.  They wanted to do a story on the whole “brand driver” concept, and wanted to come out and do a story on them – and at the same time wanted to profile one of their brand drivers.  Considering that I actually have a little TV experience – and coupled with the fact that we have a very interesting family (and I quote…”It’s not Jon and Kate plus 8 – it’s Ammon and Tamara plus 5, and you guys actually still like each other!”) they decided that we would be a perfect family to profile.

So, Wednesday December 16th – all day – the Today Show is sending one producer, one correspondent and one camera man to follow us around for the day.  At the same time, my business will get some exposure, as that is part of what makes me such a busy person.

We are very excited about this – no we don’t know when it will air – they’ll give us more info during the taping.

Wish us luck!

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How on EARTH do we handle it all?

Join us today at 1 PM MST  for a free telecall -

Holiday TIME-OUT! (for mom).

We will talk about finding that oh-so-important time for you, at a time of year when you need it most.

http://www.wahpm.com/holidaytimeout.htm

Look forward to seeing you there!

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While this recipe does take a little time to prepare, and some babysitting (what stay at home mom doesn’t know how to do that???) it’s well worth the effort- and any yogurt loving family will love the cost savings as well.

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon of whole milk.
1 cup of yogurt starter (for the first batch, one cup of store-bought yogurt from the store will be fine.  It must be PLAIN and have LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES in it.)
1 cup of powdered milk

Method:

Heat the milk in a sauce pan over medium high heat stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 180 degrees.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to 115 degrees.

While the milk is cooling stir together 1 cup of yogurt starter and 1 cup of powdered milk.  Let sit until the milk is cooled to the appropriate temperature.

When the milk reaches 115 degrees, stir in the yogurt and powdered milk mixture.

Here is where it gets a bit tricky.  This mixture needs time to cultivate and must stay between 105 and 110 degrees for the next six hours (or until it’s reached your desired consistency).  I put mine in a glass mixing bowl with a lid and then submerge it in hot water inside a foam cooler, consistently monitoring the temperature with an electric candy thermometer.  When it starts to drop in temperature, I simply change out the water for more hot water.

It will set up thick like store bought yogurt if you did it right.  There also might be a thin watery liquid on the surface – this is fine, and you can drain it away or stir it back in – it’ simply the whey from the milk.  Separate out one cup for future yogurt starter, and then you can eat the rest!  I usually mix in fresh fruit before serving for flavor – with a teaspoon of granulated sugar for those that don’t like it tart.  I promise pictures next time I make it!

This recipe yields 1/2 gallon of yogurt.  When the milk is .99 per half gallon, and if you factor in the cost of the powdered milk – total cost for this yogurt works out to be about $1.15 per 1/2 gallon – definitely worth the time!

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