Granny duty called

So it was off to London for a couple of days as Granny duty called. My daughter has twins of 3 and a baby and my son has 2 teenage step daughters. She has a houseful and my other son and brother and sister in law also joined us yesterday.

Have laptop - will travel and you will find me updating blogs and and working on client fan pages  whenever I can. The Red Funnel crossing suits me better than the Wightlink as they have wifi!!! What else would I do in that hour crossing the water - well pre wifi I  used to find myself networking or making phone calls. How times change.

Now don't get me wrong - I do have times when I am not working -  like taking the children to the park with their new bikes! Quite exhausting for all the accompanying grown ups!

Baby Jennifer is clearly going to be a blog writer! She loves trying to help granny on the laptop!

I enjoyed my two days but it was quite exhausting - Home now for a rest? No not really - I've just set up a new network group (Wightbuzz )for the small businesses on the Isle of Wight.   No rest for the wicked!!  The first meeting is next week and there are more events and publicity to deal with but first - methinks I ought to go and get some lunch - yes it is gone four in the afternoon but I was very busy!!!

Home Alone

Yesterday was a day for being home alone. Now don't get me wrong I like mine own company! but I also connected with friends via facebook and phone. I am very lucky to have made so many lovely friends this year. Where would we all be without facebook? I spent the time learning about blogger and managed to over come a few of the frustrations that presented themselves. Next thing is Youtube - steep learning curve but I am determined to master all these things, especially as I now work on social media for clients now!

Need to be very organised as am running lots of blogs and lots of facebook pages and tweeting well too!
It has to be done.

Why not take a peek at some what I have been up to .

My personal facebook page
My Wikaniko facebook fan page
My Barefoot Book Fan page
My Utility Warehouse Fan page

Wightbuzz Blog
Wightbuzz fanpage

Giant potential


and that is only part of what I do!!!! Busy busy busy but that is just the way I love it! Now I have to get on with some events I am planning in January and beyond. On the first Saturday of every month (except in January its on the second Saturday (8th) I am organising coffee and shop at Ryde Methodist Church. I will have room for 10 stalls every month to be set up while the church coffee morning is on. Hoping to showcase a lot of the Island businesses over the year. I am also arranging a fayre for people running home based businesses. Again they can show case their businesses and invite others to join their teams. With so many redundancies on the Island, people will be looking for other ways of earning. I already have Wikaniko, Utility Warehouse, Barefoot books, Pampered Chef , Phoenix cards booked so plenty of room for lots more. Would love to have Linen at Home, Avon, Virgin Vie etc. Get in touch if you want to know more. Alex Tana, life coach will also be there to help people started up businesses.
This event will be at the Riverside centre in Newport on 15th January so book your stalls now or reserve the date and come and chat about running your own home based business

I have many more plans for 2011 so watch this space..........

Another great day with friends

I was going to work at home yesterday - decluttering etc but friends Maggie and Kelvin Currie invited me over and I thought that would be much more fun - That was until my van decided not to play the game!!!!! Wasn't I pleased I had just sorted out the previously lapsed breakdown cover. An hour later and with a little TLC the van decided to co-operate and I was on my merry way all the way to Freshwater (that's an Island joke!!!!)

It was a very enjoyable day - super food, super company and even the benefit of some good advice from Maggie and Kelvin - after all Maggie is a life coach and has a lot of great advice to give as does Kelvin. I read her book,  What you believe creates your reality when I was on  my holiday. It is an excellent, easy read and well worth the money. Maggie's new courses start soon at Creedence Training  Academy

Maggie and Kelvin also introduced me to Rummikub which we played for hours but I didn't win!!!!!! 

I had a very enjoyable day - much more fun than the decluttering I had planned but guess what?   I have to do that today! 

My van played the game last night so didn't need a jumpstart thank goodness.

It is great to have so many lovely friends. I am very priviledged to have so many friends who look out for me.


Today I need to do the decluttering and some work! Need to start 2011 with a clear working environment!!  Have a great day everyone.

What a lovely day

I spent Christmas with some super friends. It was truly a day for good company, good food and much fun and merriment. My grandchildren's excited chatter on the phone filled my heart with such a warm glow as 3 year old N told me about the pretend makeup Santa had brought her and twin sister C delighted in telling me about the pink bikes they both got and baby J was just content with the wrapping paper.

Having watched the younger members of the family I was with, on the wii - just dance - I was challenged by an older member! I always love to rise to the challenge and guess what ! I not only won but I have lived to tell the tale. Lots of laughter - you just had to be there. Now my daughter knows what I got up to, she is getting the "just dance" for my impending visit!!!! I have a sneaking suspicion she will record it and put it on Youtube!!!!

have a great boxing day x

Jesus is the reason for the Season

Christingle service yesterday, midnight communion last night and a wonderful family service this morning at Ryde Methodist Church in Garfield Road - reminds me what the true meaning of Christmas is.

Christmas Eve

What a perfect start to Christmas eve! I had a long lie in - only broken by the sound of a text coming in from a special friend.  Shortly after that one of my sons rang and it was great to hear his cheerful voice. A few minutes later - the phone rang again  and there was my daughter and her three year old twins - such total excitement in their voices as they told me all that was going on in their world! I have just spoken to my other son and one of his step children (hope to catch up with the other one soon) What more could a granny/mummy want? Family and friends are so important to me and are the best presents ever.

Wednesday is a Rotary day!

It's always an early start on Wednesday, as I am a member of Vectis Sunrise Rotary Club.
7.30 is the time for us to gather at the Riverside club for breakfast. The Rotary motto is service above self and although our main purpose is to raise funds and do good works, we have a lot of fun and lots of friendships are forged through Rotary.

Having enjoyed the camaraderie of breakfast with like minded people it was time to go home for some decluttering!!!! Lot's in fact - it just had to be done. It was a little manic in the house with people coming and going. Mum was going away for Christmas so her bags were all being taken out as workmen were coming in to insulate the loft. A friend arrived for lunch. Mum's cleaner arrived - much coming and going . My brother and sister in law arrived back to collect my brothers car which he left here when he took mum to the ferry! It was something like a Whithall farce especially since in our house you can go round and round! People coming in one door and out another. You actually had to be here. Anyway - all is peaceful now as I am working in my home office home alone!! With Vectis Radio for company I am organising my blogs as they have been sadly neglected. I am trying to get them into some sort of order and am about to set up the Wightbuzz blog ready for Wightbuzz members to tell us what they have on offer.

Networking, networking, networking

As I have always considered networking to be key for my work from home businesses , I have been practising for many years and now have become a networking queen. Also, because I was forced to rebuild my business (through no fault of my own) I have also become a facebook , twitter  and Giant Potential queen! I found that using social media (Lyn Blackledge bookladyofryde Lyn Blackledge) was a wonderful way of building my business for FREE as I had been financially devastated when my previous company moved the goalposts. As a result, my skills have been recognised and with a push from two key people in my life, not only have I started running other peoples fan pages but I have also set up a network - Wightbuzz for the small businesses on the Isle of Wight. If I can do it anyone can. I took  a negative situation and turned it round. Wightbuzz is really taking off now and I only launched on 1st December. It is something that just evolved from seeing the power of networking. My aim is to help the small businesses on the Island survive in these difficult times. I am still in the Early Bird launch period but I ma very encouraged by the response. The Island has already started buzzing. I seem to have become a queen bee now creating hives of activity round the Island. I will report back to let you know how it is progressing. Meanwhile, if you want your business to succeed - follow the three foot rule - anyone who comes within three foot of you - engage them in conversation. I do - in the car park, in the supermarket queue - basically anywhere where there are people!! I have recruited some pretty good people to my multiple businesses seen at Lyn's Biz from car parks! Go on - give it a try. Leave me a comment and tell me some of your best networking successes.

It's celebration time!

Wow what a year it has been!! As I sit looking across the snowy garden and across the Solent to Portsmouth, I am reflecting on the last year. In Summer 2009, the company that I had been loyal to for 7 years moved the goalposts which spelt financial disaster for me! I had spent 7 years building and training a team & suddenly the company I represented decided they didn't want to pay me unless I made the team work harder. I was not prepared to compromise my credibility and so I left! I  had told those team members, who were mostly mums working home based businesses round their children they could work as and when they liked! Suddenly I was expected to change the rules!!! No way! I had ethics and so I and my ethics went to seek pastures new. Well there I was on the bottom rung of the ladder and with ethics but no income! I became a distributor for Utility Warehouse and continue to be so. (Lyn's Utility Biz)

 I love helping people save money (even more crucial in these current difficult times) and although long term the financial outlook is very good (given time and effort)- it is not a get rich quick scheme but it is building. 

As people knew me as a book lady and as I loved selling children's books, I decided to become an ambassador for Barefoot Books. (Lyn's Barefoot Books) I love the ethos of the company, the books are beautiful and so easy to sell!

Then a year ago today, and this is the cause of today's celebration,  I was browsing Giant Potential , a social networking site for ladies in business, created by entrepreneur Roberta Jerram. My eyes lit on a post from Paula Pomeroy. She was (and still is) a distributor with Wikaniko (pronounced we can eco!) I left her a message and within and hour she had called me! I loved what she told me - I could build a business helping people to take small green steps to save the Earth without costing the Earth. I would get paid for it!!! Amazing I thought! I am sure this is something that other people would like and so I scraped together the starter fee and bought myself a business in a box. That was my Christmas present to me!!! I couldn't really afford it but decided I couldn't afford NOT to!

 It was a very wise decision. I have now grown quite a team for Lyn's Green Biz and there is continual interest in my business both from ptoential distributors and customers. Paula and I have become the best of friends. Paula and I attended the Mumpreneurs awards in September where I was presented with the Best Saleswoman award 2010 (having entered myself when someone criticised me for running multiple businesses.  I have also recently become a Phoenix trader  and all businesses are combined as  Lyn's Biz) 

 I was delighted that Paula and Roberta were with me when I won. Roberta was responsible for connecting us via Giant Potential and Paula has helped me to build the business I have achieved in this my first year. This is only the beginning!!!! Wikaniko is still a relatively new company but it too has Giant Potential. Karen and Trevor (who set up Wikaniko) are great people with great vision and great ethics. They have set the company up as a co-operative and they have to work as distributors like us to achieve their income. The profits are shared out. I am so proud to be part of this as indeed I am for all my current businesses. In celebration of my first Wikaniko birthday, I am running a competition. All current subscribers to my newsletter will be entered as will any new newsletter subscribers who sign up between now and Christmas Eve. Anyone who recommends another person who then signs up to the newsletter will get an extra ticket in the draw! The prize will be either a business starter box (In other words I will pay for you to join Wikaniko as a distributor) or you may choose the equivalent price (£48) in product from the Wikaniko range. To enter you will need to visit my Wikaniko fan page. If you are recommending others to the site then leave me a message . I have had an excellent year. Now its onwards and upwards!! 

So go ahead and enter my competition. That's right just sign up to my Wikaniko newsletter. The competition closes at midnight on Christmas Eve.  Tell all your friends to subscribe (don't forget to message me  and you will get an entry for every one. Have fun and I hope Santa brings you lots of lovely goodies!

Lyn's Biz