Cedar Valley Publishing

Start Up Nation is hosting a contest, and Cedar Valley Publishing is honored to be in the consideration!

This contest is called “Leading Moms in Business 2009 Competition:  Celebrating America’s top 200 mom-owned businesses and the women behind them.”

Wow, how fun for all moms who own businesses!

We sure would appreciate your vote, to be included in this list of leading businesses!  You can vote once a day, everyday!  To vote for me (Stacey Kannenberg) and my Cedar Valley Publishing business, please click on this link:  http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-2009/contestant/3662/index.php

Offers One-Stop Shopping, Huge Discounts for Valentine’s Day

Barrington, NH - The Mom Entrepreneur, a company that offers tips, advice and resources for balancing motherhood and running a company, has launched a new online co-op shop just in time for Valentine’s Day shopping. Think outside of the (Tiffany’s) box this Valentine’s Day and surprise your loved ones with special gifts, services and discounts from talented mom entrepreneurs. 

The Mom Entrepreneur Co-op Shop consists of 35 members from its online support group, who are offering fantastic savings on a diverse group of products and services. 

“From now until February 14, our co-op shop - all mom entrepreneurs - will be offering many things, including products for babies, children, moms, dads and more, as well as a variety of professional services for companies,” said Traci Bisson, founder and owner of The Mom Entrepreneur. “This month’s offerings are geared towards Valentine’s Day, but there will be new products and services featured every month this year, so visitors should check back often.”

View current specials at www.themomentrepreneur.com/mom-entrepreneur-coop-shop.html.

Bisson, a mother and entrepreneur, started The Mom Entrepreneur in April 2008 after becoming frustrated with the lack of mom entrepreneur support groups. Bisson, who personifies the adage “necessity is the mother of invention,” created her blog and subsequent online support group based on her own needs - and the similar needs of other mom entrepreneurs. 

At the time, her public relations and image management firm, Bisson Barcelona, was experiencing a pinch from the economic downturn. When several clients failed to pay their bills, Bisson faced a tough decision - lay off staff or find other ways to reduce expenses. She chose to cut costs by taking her son out of daycare and moving to a home office. Unable to network in person, she started experimenting with online social marketing and networking options.

“Through my personal experiences and continued research, I saw an opportunity to create an online support system targeting mom entrepreneurs, a demographic that has grown significantly over the past five years,” Bisson explained. “I started my blog, The Mom Entrepreneur, last spring and added the online support group component two months later. These online tools have resonated with other mom entrepreneurs, who have thanked me for providing much-needed resources.”

In less than a year, her online support group has grown to more than 450 members. Her newest offering, The Mom Entrepreneur Co-op Shop, the first collaborative effort to come out of the support group, features products and services from mom entrepreneurs across the country.

The co-op shop spotlights a variety of products and services, including many wonderful options for Valentine’s Day gifts, such as:

• Organic baby food
• Fashionable apparel
• Jewelry and accessories
• Children’s clothing and toys
• Bath and beauty products
• Men’s grooming products
• Athletic apparel and accessories
• Coupon sites and blogs that provide money saving ideas
• Specialty foods

For more information, visit www.themomentrepreneur.com or call (603) 664-3841.

I was so blessed to receive an advance copy of Ken Bossone’s new book, Why Positive Thinkers Have the Power.  I wrote a review and he had it printed on the back cover of this amazing book!! What a huge and humbling honor!!  I love that his book uses real-life examples and the wisdom of some of history’s doers and thinkers:  Vince Lombardi, Oprah, Einstein, Churchill, Ben Franklin…to name a few; along with a host of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things because they believe in the power of positive thinking!

Ken Bossone is the author of Why Positive Thinkers Have the Power and President of the World Positive Thinkers Club.

Why Positive Thinkers Have the Power presents a do-it-now, practical approach to help readers make profound and lasting lifetime changes; not only to become more effective in thinking positively, but also to actually earn greater results in every undertaking in life. This exciting book is filled with humor and dozens of real life stories about people - including average people who overcame all manner of difficulty to become great. It is geared toward men, women and children of all ages; with one chapter specifically geared to the woman readers, filled with stories of fascinating women who helped change the course of history.

The World Positive Thinkers Club includes over 500 celebrities of the sports and business world…from Lance Armstrong and Eli Manning to Joni Earickson Tada (a paralyzed author and artist) and Larry King. The club began in 1995, and voluntary dues are used to help children in need.

Ken is also Director of Sales for www.IDCure.com and a financial advisor with a flair for creating and evaluating business plans. He has been featured on many radio shows and earned the Prestigious ‘Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom’ Award in seven categories for his book and 2008 Business Book of the Year.

You may purchase this book from Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/Why-Positive-Thinkers-Have-Power/dp/088391168X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232991968&sr=1-1

The following peanut butter products have been recently recalled.  For more up-to-date information or additional product information, please visit http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm#Peanut%20Butter

Please note that as of this blog post, no peanut butter itself has been recalled, just products containing peanut butter that came from a certain processing plant in Georgia.

I love this book to help military families deal with a parent being deployed.  My dear friend and Author, Leah McDermott, gave away some of her books to help this families saying goodbye to their loved ones aboard the USS Nashville.  

Click Here for more information on this great book!

Click here to check out a news video of Leah as she hands out her book to families left behind as their loved ones depart on the USS Nashville.

I belong to the Mom Central Community!!! They are always looking for moms to review products and that is how I find many of the products that I review here at the Cedar Valley Publishing Blog. 

In fact, check here is YOUR opportunity to win the Panasonic SD Waterproof Camcorder.  Enter to win: http://tinyurl.com/7jdst8.

Mom Central and CNN are looking for families who want to share stories about paying for college during tough economic times.  This is a perfect opportunity to share some of those tips to help other families!!  Contact Adrienne Lavidor-Berman at Mom Central for more details at Adrienne@momcentral.com

Join the Mom Central Mom Panel at www.momcentral.com

One of the most horrific scenes I ever experience was while I was driving home from a playgroup party with my girls who were 3 and 1.  I remember it being a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Traffic had slowed to a stop and I could see the flight for life helicopter land and within minutes leave again.  We were only about 5 minutes from the hospital by car so I started praying for the unknown accident victims.  As I came upon the carnage, I will never forget seeing those two empty and mangled car seats outside of what was left of two crashed vehicles.    I cried instantly and started praying for those two children and both families!  Sadly, that night on the news it was reported that a drunk driver had crossed into the other side of traffic after lunch and hit a mom, who like me, was coming home in the opposite direction as I, from her own playgroup, killing her two toddlers in the backseat.  I think I cried for a week! 

One of the things that always bothered me is seeing those empty car seats. How can we make car seats and booster seats safer?  In my experience with my girls, who are now in booster seats, every time we hit a bump, they bounce around from side-to-side.  The seat belt sometimes become loose and I wonder just how much protection these seats really provide for our children.

Let’s Get Ready For Seat Snug!  This is a great new product that permanently attaches to your seat belt and removes slack from the lap portion of the seat belt.  It still allows for movement across the chest portion so kids are comfortable yet much safer.  In fact, a statistic I read from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that a major contributor to the injuries children sustain in a car accident is from the seat belt not being snug enough.

Seat Snug is easy to install - took me only a few minutes - and can be disengaged when someone other than your child is riding in that seat.

You can learn more about how Seat Snug works by visiting their website www.seatsnug.com  And, they are now offering a discount for the holidays! Receive $5 off by entering the coupon code MomCentral on the “Buy” page. It’s the perfect gift of safety for any parent, grandparent or caregiver!

“Operation No Kid Hungry” is a campaign to raise funds to help end childhood hunger and encourage Americans to hold food drives within their own communities.  This campaign responds to President-elect Obama’s call to action for corporations to serve our nation’s communities and builds on his commitment to end childhood hunger by 2015.

To coincide with Martin Luther King Day and a national day of community service on Monday, January 19th, Share Our Strength in partnership with AT&T is offering two ways for your readers to participate in “Operation No Kid Hungry”:

1. Donating $5 to Share Our Strength by text messaging “SHARE” to 20222. AT&T will match all text donations up to $100,000.
2. Holding food drives within their communities beginning Monday, January 19th, which is Martin Luther King Day and a national day of community service.

For more information or to learn about ways that you can help, please visit: http://www.strength.org

I am always on the lookout for little craft ideas that I can make with my girls, and something appropriate for their short attention spans.  Quick, easy, fast and fun - that’s my crafting mantra!  As I was searching for something crafty to do, I came across this fabulous video from The Balancing Act and the Craft & Hobby Association with Kathy Peterson:

Friendly reminder to watch the launch of the Moms-for-Profit segment on HSN Today - starting Monday 1/12 at 8am EST!

Support mom-owned businesses and see the first mom brand that we are launching with this partnership!
If for some reason you can’t tune in, take a look and check out the other mom brands that are on HSN.com:
http://home-decor.hsn.com/moms-for-profit_c-hd_a-6410_xc.aspx?prev=hp!sf

Our upcoming shows are: Thursday, January 22 at 8am and Thursday, January 29 at 8am.

We hope you can tune in! ENJOY! and good luck to the mom brands that are launching their national TV campaign - we’re so proud of everyone!

ATTENTION mom entrepreneurs:
If you’d like to be part of this amazing opportunity, we invite you to submit your story & product and you might be selected to sell on HSN over the next few months.
http://www.hybridmom.com/hsn-mfp.html