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It’s Wednesday night so it can only mean one thing for me – The Apprentice!

This week it’s all about coming up with a useful gadget for the home. Lord Sugar stated that the most important thing was to come up with a brilliant concept as every process after that depends on the product being great. Wise words but would the candidates listen?

They were still in their girls v boys teams, the Project Managers were picked fairly quickly this week, the boys were positive in their choice and the girls did it with some eye rolling. Why oh why do they insist on behaving like this? Anyway I digress.

They came up with their concepts and off they went to carry out their market research. The focus groups all picked their favourite products and the teams then both proceeded to ignore the research and go with the product the PM favoured!

The pitches were next. The boys faired ok but the girls were a shambles, as Lord Sugar said, the product was bad and the financial side was appalling, they didn’t get their figures right at all. So guess who lost this week? ……… Yep, the girls!

So again, the team failed due to lack of basic business knowledge. I am beginning to wonder how they have all managed to start up these businesses they rave about? I wonder if they are failing because they are thinking more about the prize than they are about the tasks? At least this week it wasn’t a case of see who can shout the loudest so it was a bit easier on the ears!

We’ll have to wait and see what happens next week and I’m hoping that there is a shining example of a businesswoman sitting within the remaining female contestants. And can I just say – the pro wrestler/businessman who pipes up with the tag lines here and there is becoming tv gold!

Hi all, it’s Emma here sharing with you my love for The Apprentice! My Wednesday nights are now a write off as the show has made its return, oh how I love this show. I love seeing the characters that have been picked, I love seeing the tasks they are given and I love seeing the money result to (don’t we all?).

16 applicants have come together for this series and I’m sat wondering whether part of the selection process involves the kind of tag lines they can make up for themselves?

“I’m going to roar my way to the top”

“I’m like a blond assassin”

“I’m like a shark, top of the food train and I truly am the reflection of perfection” (This one came from the business man who is also a professional wrestler by night!)

Anyway, I digress. So the task was set that they would have blank products that they could then print on and sell, they were split into teams of boys v girls and Phoenix and Sterling were born.

They worked completely differently and if I’m honest (and please remember these are my own views and not those of Weston Communications!) I felt embarrassed by the girls team and thought they actually gave business women a bad name, no wonder we have trouble out there! So whilst the boys knuckled down to figures and margins the girls concentrated on the design. Admittedly this is where the girls excelled, they came up with a fab motif that went on their bags, jigsaws and t-shirts whereas the boys came up with a crap ‘This is a red bus’ with a picture of a red bus (really!) for theirs and an extortionately priced teeny teddy with a union jack flag on it.

So the next 20 minutes or so of the episode concentrated on watching the teams sell, well the boys team sold and the girls team argued….. a lot! The desperation of wanting to get rid of all the stock kicked in in the final half an hour and off they went to try to bulk sell to shops. The boys managed to get rid of their bags but were then recalled as the bags were so badly printed that they had to give the shop a full refund! The girls finally found a shop and basically all talked at once at the poor woman behind the counter, I couldn’t believe my eyes and had to turn the volume down, they were appalling basically trying to railroad this woman into taking their stock, it got so bad that someone else working with the lady actually came out and told them all off for their bad behaviour and incredible rudeness!

And then it was back to the boardroom. Surprisingly the boys team won by a massive difference. I say surprisingly because the girls team had a far superior product than the boys. But, this is where it shows that a strategy is a massively important thing to have for any business, imagine if the girls had had a strategy as well as their fantastic product? They could have blown the boys team out of the water.

So it was goodbye Bilyana after a lot more arguing in the boardroom, I’m not sure she should have gone as a) I think she had some good points and b) she made good tele rubbing everyone up the wrong way!

Now I have to wait another whole week for the next instalment – they’re designing a new gadget this time, it will be interesting to see if the teams have learnt anything from this week to take into the next task. And I really hope there is less shouting too, I don’t like watching things where I have a frown on my face, I have a battle with wrinkles as it is!

Did you watch it? What did you think about it, I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

It’s awards season, so we are asking you all to vote for our hard working clients who are very excited to be shortlisted in the What’s on for 4 Awards?

Please will you vote for the three clients who have been shortlisted? Thank you

Bump, Birth & Beyond is shortlisted in Best Pre/Post Natal Activity

Debi Hogston is shortlisted in Most Outstanding Activity Leader for the Under 5s

Baby Signing Mummy is shortlisted in Best New Activity for children

You only get to vote once, so please click for all three of these clients in these awards at the same time. Please come back here and tell me you’ve done it so I can thank you personally next time I see you – and buy you a drink / cake / ice cream :)

Really appreciate your help. Debi, Dean & Steph and Louise have been working so hard this and it’s great that they are shortlisted, so I really want them to have as much chance as possible at winning…

What were you born to do?

What were you Born To do? The new campaign from Save the Children has not just caught my eye, it’s got into my head. Not least because I’m working for the PHG Foundation on the Born Healthy project, which is working in a very similar area.

But there’s another reason too. I’m trying to work out what my purpose is right now. DH and I are shattered, the boys are pooped and we’ve not got back into a routine since the Christmas holiday – and it’s March next week. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN????

So much good stuff has come our way since the start of 2011, but I don’t know, I’m just not sure what to do – I’m near capacity from a consulting perspective and that’s good, but it means I’m going to end up turning work away soon, which is something I don’t want to do.
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A big organisation is interested in outsourcing lots of their printed publications to Weston Communications. Another one is interested in bringing Weston Communications in to take their online and social media engagement  strategy  forward. And then there’s the New Baby Guides, and the Young Families Bump, Baby and Toddler Shows! As well as my usual smaller clients. Something’s got to give, but what? So going to the Born To bloggers conference today was the perfect opportunity for me to take some time out and think about it.

What was I Born To Do?

I’m using thinking about what I was Born To Do to help me focus on my life and where it’s going at the moment. I was born to be a mummy. Not just a mum, or parent, but a mummy. To me, I’m parenting when I’m teaching our boys how to do things, being a mum when I’m sorting out logistics for birthday parties and a mummy when I’m giggling with them when we read a book on the sofa, or letting them climb in our bed in the middle of then night. In ten years time, there won’t be much mummy stuff left that they want  from me, so I want to try and be as  much of a mummy as I can, right now, whilst it’s still wanted.
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But how do I do that whilst working full time? I don’t know if it’s possible, because I’ve been really struggling with it recently. Honestly, I don’t if it is possible….

Watching the videos today at Save the Children, I looked around at my fellow attendees and thought “Is anyone else finding this really hard?  Is anyone else on the verge of tears? Does anyone else want to stick their head in the sand and run away from this because it’s such a big thing – and I don’t  know how I can contribute to it?” I wore mascara today – so I didn’t sit there sobbing. But I wanted to. I had tears in my eyes. I felt so small, so inept, so, I  don’t  know, lost, I suppose. I felt so overwhelmed with thoughts of my family, the families I was watching, the families of the Save the Children staff who go into these countries to help people and children in need – and the families of the people who go to film, shoot and relay the situations back to us in real time.

It was upsetting. I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t. But what it has done, is give me hope. If #blogadesh can get a message to 10 million people about what’s happening in the world, if the Make Poverty History Campaign ensures that countries are relieved of their impossible to repay debt, and if Save the Children can get into stricken countries and set up safe play centres for children within hours, then I’ve got to be able to work out what I was Born To Do, haven’t I?

I wonder how I can be what I was Born To Do – be a mummy, a worker and someone who makes a difference. I’m going to keep working at it. Thank you #bornto and Save the Children for giving me insights into your campaign and the inspiration to keep working at what I was Born To Do.

Please comment below and tell me what you were Born To. And vist the Save the Children Born To site, so you can learn more about this brilliant, challenging, amazing opportunity we all have to contribute to making a positive change in our world…

I waited a year to find this..

I have wanted this calendar and weather chart, for our boys, for months, no, nearly a year. I have looked online, in shops, asked people to help me find it and had no  luck. Until today. So when I came across this today, in Jo Jo Maman Babe, I bought it. Quickly! For  £32.00. And as a bonus, I’ve learnt something useful on my relatively new “seo aware” road of discovery.

But what’s struck me about it is how hard it was to find it. And I don’t think of Jo Jo Maman Babe as being a place for this kind of thing – in my mind, it’s more pregnancy clothes and newborn stuff. Which I suppose is the core product range actually. It’s funny how something like this has set me off thinking about how you can best market baby product, toddler products and stuff to families. It’s even got me checking out their seo and how they are coding this, because I really had searched high and low for in on the old interweb…

http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/sp+Pictures-Canvases-My-First-Calendar-Blue+A3252

This is the long link to it. There’s no baby, toddler, children’s, or child reference in this is there? Do you search for “First” of anything? I don’t. Wonder if someone in the baby marketing team @jo jo maman bebe would be  interested in this blog post? Probably not, but I’m going to send them the link to it anyway :)

So now, the outlook’s rosy – I’ve got the present I’ve wanted and learnt work stuff too. Good result all round…

and in with trying new things… (and not messing about trying to write the “perfect” blog post, anything is better than nothing!!)

On Monday 4 October, Rachel Yoxen, Hannah (the glue, or wd40 that keeps our wagon rolling) drove to Brighton. We were attending the Business Mums Conference the next day.  But I wanted to try something new, and Brighton provided a great opportunity to do it – running a speed networking session…

Attended by 15 of us, we got together a goodie bag with lovely things from Molton Brown, Weleda, Green & Blacks and Clarins for attendees and got stuck in. We set up some of  us sitting down,  and other  people moving around. We did one minute of talking, followed by a blow of the whistle from Hannah. Then the other person talked for a minute. And then we swapped around. This is our video of it. It’s very dark, but shows a bit of what we did…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-kPZwIm8C0

It was a good night. We  had fun and people made a range of new contacts which made the next  day, the day of the actual conference, not quite  so nerve wracking, when there’s friendly faces to meet up with…. And it’s always good to make new friends isn’t it?

And thinking that I’ll need another shower later and I’m still smelly!! I don’t care whether my bum looks different to you or not. I can feel it! My bum is becoming more toned. Not through some wonder cream or treatment, but through good old fashioned hard work.

This is a quick post, as people keep asking me what I’m talking about when I refer to “boot camp”.

This is a kettle bell.Not what I was expecting

Purple Fitness and Charlie Wall’s boot camps are, well, I’m struggling to find the right word. They’re doing me the power of good, I know that much. 

Getting up and to camp for 6.30am is hard, but DH is helping and doing brilliant meals for me to support me. And it’s working. It’s working by the scales, measuring of flubber with a tape and in how I feel.

Someone asked me what it is? Basically, I think it’s circuits, with pairing up, individual work and all other stuff mixed in. There’s not much running, which is good as that’s what finishes me off quickest. It’s hard work though - plank, burpees and kettlebells are my new watch words. It usually around a minute at longest of any exercise and you have to do as many as you can within the time frame. I do think that the last ten seconds of any set are not measured as accurately as I’d like them to be, but I daren’t complain or I’ll get extra time added on….

I’m off wheat, pasta, rice at the moment. And as little dairy as possible. I’m eating a lot of meat and veg, and fruit. And seeds. If I drank more water, I’d do even better, but find I get nauseous when I drink a lot of it.

I’m keeping going, despite my embarrassment at not being able to do a full set of anything at the moment. It’s giving me something to aim for and is a valuable distraction from work. I get home to three boys laid in bed together reading books and we all have a snuggle before going our separate ways…

Next week, there are free trials which is good news if you want to come and have a go. Just let me know and I’ll give you all the info. It’s hard work, but worth it.

A friend was just telling me how a certain national brand are interested in her input and support. As disclaimer, it’s none of my current clients for reasons which will become apparent shortly. I’m so excited for her, it’s great news. Especially as I introduced them to each other….

Bra and boobs courtesy of www.bras4mums.co.uk

Anyway, her conversations are with a man in the company. I’d been talking to the same person at the same time, about something entirely different. What struck me was the fact that comment had been made on her generous bosom by the person in question. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was appropriate or not but she metaphorically brushed it off and told me that she gets it every single day…

Now we don’t know if it’s company priorities here or the fact that he was very interested in her chest that’s got her progressing her ideas with them. She doesn’t care either way at the moment… But we’re now thinking of a clinical trial to see how he reacts to people based on bosom sizes and hair colour.

It’s led me to think I’ve got a new dimension to add to the cliche “not what you know, but who you know” because it’s obviously influenced by what you look like as well! Am minded to start testing reactions based on whether I’m in a low cut top or not. I wonder if women are less likely to engage with other women who have very low cut tops on or uber short skirts?

Or maybe I should focus on getting these three publications to print on schedule? Do you wonder what people think about what you look like when you’re working? What are your top things to make sure you do and don’t do when going out to work from a clothing perspective?

Are you going to the Business Mums Conference 2010 ? There are a few tickets left – I spoke to one of the organisers – Nicky from Mums in Biz this morning and she was telling me about all sorts of great stuff that’s coming up on 5 October.

I’ve had a few emails, calls and tweets asking me what we’re planning the night before the Business Mums Conference that I thought I should do a blog post with more info. Here at Weston Communications HQ and bras4mums, we’re very excited about #BCM10. To celebrate the first Mums Business Conference and the fact that it will be Liz’s birthday, the lovely Tracey Jane from Bras4mums is helping us to organise speed networking session the night before the Conference. Please treat this blog post as your personal invitation to attend :)

The basic info is:

What does it cost? Nothing. It is free. 100% free to attend. TJ @ Bras4mums and I do all our networking online – we’re really benefitting from it, so we thought we’d share it with everyone else…
Where: The Thistle Hotel, King’s Road, Brighton BN1 2GS.
When: Monday 4 October 2010.
What time: 8pm – 10pm.

Why should I attend? What is speed networking?
According to Wikipedia, it’s “A method of making a potential business contact by briefly talking to people at an organized event and exchanging contact details”. Speed networking, as we’ve experienced it, is where you
introduce yourself and your business for 90 seconds to someone who you’ve never met before. A bell then rings and the other person tells you all about themselves, and their business. Then there’s a different noise, (a claxon? Hannah will find something suitable) and everyone moves around to find someone new to talk to. It’s a great way to meet lots of new people and break the ice ahead of the big day on the Tuesday…

The other benefit, is that you could email TJ in advance and be “TJ’d” (that’s web guru Alison Rothwell’s term for it), with a personal fitting for a bra from her. Just tell her what size (ish) you are by email and she’ll be able to help you on the night.

Doesn’t it sound a bit, well, nuts? Isn’t it going to be really busy?
Yes and yes, but it’s really good fun. As well as making lots of new contacts it’s a very informal way of doing business and people usually end up laughing at each other as they struggle to repeat their elevator pitch for the 10th time in two hours. There will be regular breaks to go to the loo and get a drink so it’s not too full on for people who are new to networking.

Dress code: Please come in your jeans. Please feel free to wear ugg boots or slippers. Please wear a comfy hooded top if you’d like to. We will be in jeans, uggs and a top of some description ie: a hoody if it’s cold… We won’t be judging anyone on appearances, especially if, like us, you’ve had a long drive to get to Brighton.

What to bring: At least 100 business cards with you – we’re aiming for you to meet 99 new people in 2 hours.

A FREEBIE
If you are planning on coming, please leave a comment below, to that effect, as I’m going to get some of my local contacts to provide nice samples and treats for a mini goody bag. The first hundred to write their name and email address below will get a goody bag on the night. I’ve got some lovely Weleda bits, Yorkshire Tea stuff and am talking to Clarins and Green & Blacks about some more things to go in there, so it’s shaping up to be a nice little bag…

Other stuff that we’ve been asked about:
Where are you staying?We’re staying the Travelodge Brighton Seafront. (Thank you to @tj_bras4mums for telling us about it) It’s £32.50 for the night. They don’t put twin rooms on their site, so call them on 01273 208588 to book a twin, which is what we did. (Thank you to @brightonbobski for the non 0870 number there)
What’s your mobile?   07515 910231 for Liz
Will you introduce me to X on the day? Yes of course we will. If you know that Liz or T-J knows someone who could be useful to you, please let us know and we’ll make a special effort to introduce you to them. Send us a quick email so we can make a list of who needs to meet who…

We think that’s everything for now. It’s all we can remember  – but we’ll update this blog if you tell us that we’ve missed anything out. Looking forward to lots of names and email addresses below….

Liz W @cambridgemummy and T-J @tj_bras4mums