Rima McDonald, publisher/ owner of Women’s Online Magazine, also an Internet Marketing expert among other women business owners in the United States, knows what it takes to run an online magazine successfully.

She has done well with one at www.WomensOnlineMagazine.com. It has attracted over 6,000 visitors each month, within a couple of months since its launch in June 2007. And now, after 1.5 years in operation, it has steadily attracted 24,000 visitors, with over 65,000 page views and 350,000 hits on an average each month.

And she is not stopping. She has bigger plans for WOM. She is opening up local versions of Women’s Online Magazine now! Check out www.WomensOnlineMagazine.com

 My Little Wrapper is brought to you by Sue Botterill, founder of MyMag and Raring2Go franchise opportunities. Together with husband Nigel, who spearheads theBestOf website business op, I suspect Sue does know what she’s doing in the way of business, whatever my doubts.

Anyway, this month Sue has over-ordered the chocolate for My Little Wrapper. Not a big problem? Well, it is if you have over ordered by a factor of 10 due to a fax error. So, if you can get the money over to them by the end of Monday 29thth September, you can get a My Little Wrapper business for les than half price:

Mini Business Pack   WAS £1,999 with 1 box of chocolate     NOW £800  (plus VAT & P&P)  
 INCLUDING 4 boxes of chocolate (that’s 400 bars worth over £140!) that’s a saving of over £1,200 

Professional Pack       WAS £2,749 with 4 box of chocolates    NOW  £1,400  (plus VAT & P&P)  
INCLUDING 8 boxes of chocolate (that’s 800 bars  worth almost £300!) a saving of over £1,400 

You can get the full details about My Little Wrapper on the website www.getmylittlewrapper.co.uk.
To take advantage of this ‘one off’ offer  call Steve or Thom on 0121 765 3400 and tell them that you’d like to take advantage of Sue’s Incredible Chocolate Coated Deal. They’ll be able to take a card payment over the phone and get the Pack shipped to you straight-away.  If you prefer, you can buy online here. And if selling chcolate bars doesn’t appeal, read about lots of other flexible home business ideas at Family Friendly Working.

and ask others what they think you’re good at.

Think about the hours you can devote to working. Be realistic if you plan to work around the kids, as children may not understand “mummy’s working”.

Research the market for your business. Will people buy your product or service? Is it unique enough to be appealing?

Pop into a local Enterprise Agency for advice. The Inland Revenue can also send an advisor to your house. Go to The Mumpreneur Guide for a new free start up e-course to help you get your business going.

Prepare a business plan. Set out aims and objectives, and the steps to take to achieve your goals.PRBasics for a free promotion plan and lots of PR ideas and resources.

Work out how you will promote and market your business. Visit

Running your own business isn’t always easy. There are plenty of pitfalls to avoid. Here are hints on how to steer clear:

Register as self employed. You have about 3 months to let the Inland Revenue know you have started a business, or could end up with a £100 fine.

Keep good records. It is easier to note down every item of expenditure from the start than to have to deal with a pile of receipts when your tax return is due in. You can claim many of your business costs against tax too.

Make the most of every customer. From day one, start a customer database so you can send them offers. It is easier to get existing customers to buy again than to find new ones.

Watch out for your work-life balance. Business can easily take over. Have a finish time each day, put your work away, and make some time to relax.

Antonia Chitty writes parenting and business books. She combines writing with running ACPR, specializing in helping small business owners improve their PR skills.  

Depending on your set up you may have free rein over the entire content, or have most or all of it supplied by the franchisor. If you have some input, or are setting up a magazine by yourself, you may wonder how best to fill your pages with gripping content that has readers retaining your magazine and passing it on to friends. Here are some tips to get you inspired:

Start by asking people in your target audience about the type of articles that interest them.

Look at other local publications and see what you can provide that is unique and different.

Make the most of local angles, and interview local ‘celebs’, and owners of interesting businesses.

Finally, if you are short on content, there are hundreds on websites that will provide you with free articles in return for an author credit. Just Google ‘article’, or check out the list at PRBasics.

Once your publication is up and running you will find local business owners and advertisers will be very keen to supply you with an article in return for a little extra space in your pages. Have fun finding articles for your community magazine.

The most important thing to find out about the franchise is the sales training that they offer. Ad sales will determine your magazine’s success or failure. Ask about the traning, as well as the practical side of magazine production.