Strong Women Make a Strong Economy!

Strong Women Make a Strong Economy!

As we hear about the steady rate of unemployment – or, in some cases, how the percentage has increased for the worse – we might start to feel like a turn-around for the economy is not just around the corner. Americans are worried and rightfully so, with unemployment rates hanging on around 8% for the past six months (ncsl.org) and many unable to find work even after having looked for months. However grim the prospect may seem, there is good news – entrepreneurs and small businesses which have started growing are giving people the opportunities they need and can't find in bigger companies.

The most startling – and impressive – fact is that women are contributing a massive amount to growing the job pool and providing opportunities for millions of Americans. According to Allison Silver of the AmEx Open forum, "women owned businesses employ 40% more people than the three largest employers combined" – and this includes McDonald's, IBM, and Wal-mart! That means there are 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the US, which is more than the amount of citizens in 50% of the world's countries (AmEx Open Forum). A staggering number, but it just goes to show how driven women are and just how much of a difference we can make in the community!

As women-owned businesses take off, we need a way to connect with each other and network, to share advice, tips, and our stories. All people thrive and motivate each other, but women especially need this sort of network, deriving strength and optimism from each other. Meet-up groups and networking events aimed specifically for women entrepreneurs and mompreneurs are starting to catch on, but we still have a long ways to go. That's why I started Queen Bee's – to give my home city, Charlotte, a steady networking group where women could come together and share, help each other, and just have a good time! Hopefully as time goes on, women-owned businesses will continue to get recognition for the truly awesome things we've done – there's some super strong ladies out there and I can attest to that!

If you're one of the many Americans still out of work and still looking – don't give up hope. Keep yourself visible by going to networking events and make friends and connections that will last years to come. Who knows? The best place to get started might be at a women entrepreneurs' group!

About Leap of Faith Clothing

Leap of Faith Clothing is located in Charlotte, NC, and is a line of boys’ and girls’ clothing - specifically CAPEtees, T-shirts with a velcro attached cape that will make any kid feel like a superhero! We also produce baby products such as bibs and onesies, and a line of pet tees!

For more information or to check out our products, visit us out online at www.leapoffaithclothing.com or follow us on Twitter @lofclothing!

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Does your little one love to color and create??  Are they imaginative and active??  Then we have the perfect product for you!  We are thrilled to introduce our new CAPEtee coloring kits.  This kit has everything your little one needs to create their very own CAPEtee.  Check it out on the Leap of Faith Clothing Website.  

Love this kit??  We would love to provide kits for your cuties next Birthday party, Playdate, School class, etc.  We will provide the CAPEtee kits and for a few extra dollars we can be there to help your group color, create and apply the designs quickly! No ironing when we come to you!! 

Best news is that we can personalize the artwork that goes on the CAPEtee.  For example your tees can all say "Suzy Qs 7th Birthday"!!  Have a theme?  We can design the tee graphic specifically for that theme as well!  

Email customerservice@leapoffaithclothing.com for special group pricing! 

 

Completed Tee

Plain Tee

Artwork

Kit Bag

 Photos by Brett Gardner. 

DYO =Design Your Own

Want a design that's just your own? Now's your chance!

These days, personalized products are all the rage. And why wouldn't they be? People love getting to make something all their own! Here at Leap of Faith Clothing, we believe you should be able to personalize your clothes; after all, clothes speak a lot about personality! Now, in addition to letting you choose colors, superhero names, and fonts, we've also decided to roll something new out – design your own products! 

Most every gal has dreamed of creating her own clothes, so moms will definitely love this. One of our cutest new ideas is a baby one piece that mom or dad can design! You can choose a fabric color, a graphic for the front (including cool pictures ranging from an owl to a lightning bolt!), a  color for the graphic, and personalized text. And, since we have so many unique graphics to choose from, your combination will have a warm, unique touch to it, and your baby will be styling!

But we haven't stopped there. We also decided to extend the personalized products to pets and moms too! Be sure to check out our design your own bib, design your own dog tees and our design your own apron, which will be sure to make cooking more fun. And you can coordinate to match your little one so everyone will know you're the cutest duo in town!

If you haven't checked out the personalized products already, you should now. Also if you do not see a design you like please email us and we will make it for you! In the meantime, keep your eye peeled because we have a couple of awesome new products coming up for the future! I won't give them away just yet, but you'll know it when you see it.

About Leap of Faith Clothing
Leap of Faith Clothing is located in Charlotte, NC, and is a line of boys’ and girls’ clothing - specifically CAPEtees, T-shirts with a velcro attached cape that will make any kid feel like a superhero! We also produce baby products such as bibs and onesies, and a line of pet tees!
For more information or to check out our products, visit us out online at www.leapoffaithclothing.com or follow us on Twitter @lofclothing!

Super Mom

One of the latest trends these days is mommy bloggers. Stay-at-home moms and working mothers have found a niche in blogging that other parents and parents-to-be find useful – there's nothing like getting someone's firsthand experience and advice. Child rearing books are limited in what they can offer, and they aren't interactive or responsive – the ability to get in touch with an experienced mom who can answer questions is one of the things that makes mommy blogging so appealing to readers.

Although this is a big plus, it's not the only reason mommy bloggers are so popular. In many ways, blogging is a business that goes beyond an online fellowship of women sharing their trials and triumphs. So what is it that keeps mommy bloggers on the scene? Maybe you're like me and are surprised mothers can earn extra money like this – but I'll tell you why it works!

First, mommy bloggers do make extra money from writing. How? It's easier said than done, but the secret lies within the readers. Online advertising has grown in the past decade, to the point it's crucial for businesses to market online to stay in the game. However, finding places to put ads where people will see might be difficult for smaller businesses. Bigger websites, such as Yahoo or AOL, are inundated with requests every day – most of which will get ignored. Even then, there's no guarantee you'll reach your target market. So if you can find a blogger in your market who has a good following of readers, you're set! Bloggers charge for banner and side bar ads, but that's not their only source of revenue. Some bloggers also charge for their writing services, in case brands want them to feature them in a blog post, do a review, or a giveaway. It works too; many mommy bloggers get so many requests they even have to turn some down! Who would've thought?

Another upside for mommy bloggers is they get to test free products (for reviews and giveaways). Many companies will eagerly send them samples just for a chance to get some exposure and links back to their site. Moms don't always have time to write about every sample they get, but that doesn't rule out the possibility in the future – and it saves them some money if they find something they really like. Brands, don't be discouraged from sending free samples even if a review isn't guaranteed! Because there's still word of mouth, and sometimes going back to the basics is all you need.

So what about companies? What makes them want to go after mommy bloggers in particular, instead of just anyone? It might be baffling at first glance, but upon deeper inspection, it makes sense. For one thing, never underestimate the power moms have over other moms. Anyone with kids understands that parents want only the best for their kids; they're more willing to listen to someone who's in the same situation, seeing her as an ally. In fact, you'd be surprised - according to Cynthia Boris with marketingpilgrim.com, 69% of moms that were surveyed got their branding information and recommendations from mommy bloggers. Wow, talk about staggering statistics!

The final incentive to get companies to work with mom bloggers is perhaps the most simple of all – far reach exposure. With the Internet, anyone from around the world can tune into weekly blog posts and find new ideas and brands in an instant. And since the readers trust mom bloggers, whom they've come to know and relate to through warm, personal posts, they're more willing to check it out and even blog about it themselves! Information spreads fast thanks to RSS feeds and social media, where people can get updates instantly. And microblogging by sharing through Facebook or retweets on Twitter just makes it all the easier to get that information to a wider audience. This is something I've experienced too, when readers of bubblewrappd tweeted about our CAPEtees!

Follow Leap of Faith Clothing on Twitter! 

That just goes to show how much influence moms hold over our lives. They are truly some of the most powerful women – and human beings – you'll ever encounter. And with Mother's Day upon us, I think we should take a moment to recognize their reach goes on past those days when they tucked us into bed every night; they really do touch the world around us in a huge way!

About Leap of Faith Clothing
Leap of Faith Clothing is located in Charlotte, NC, and is a line of boys’ and girls’ clothing - specifically CAPEtees, T-shirts with a velcro attached cape that will make any kid feel like a superhero! We also produce baby products such as bibs and onesies, and a line of pet tees!

For more information or to check out our products, visit us out online at www.leapoffaithclothing.com or follow us on Twitter @lofclothing!

Wedding Season is the REASON!

One place I've found is always a good place to share unique gifts is wedding showers! In a lot of cases, the gifts are really fun, and this last time was no exception! I went to one recently where I gave the bride a personalized button down for her special day; she was absolutely thrilled – and so was the rest of the party because I made personalized wovens for them as well! They kept saying how thrilled they were to not have to think about what they were going to wear to get ready! Here are some pictures of the wedding day! 

The shirts even helped keep them warm while they waited as well as after the wedding was over!  

The shirts were a huge hit and made it really easy for the girls to get ready and not mess up their hair and make up! And maybe they like them because they're super cute and can be personalized just for them!



Shop Leap of Faith Bridal Collection


Another shower spurred me to try my hand at personalizing a set of "Mr. and Mrs." Pillows! I was nervous about the reaction I would get from this gift, but the couple was overwhelmingly complimentary! Here are some direct quotes from the Luttrells! 


"Loved the pillows" -groom
"Good!!! I was not sure if guys would really like them! So good to hear:)" -Carly
"They're great!"- groom


"OMG!!!!!! The pillows are so awesome!!! Ahhh!!!!" -bride
"Yeah!!! Glad you like them!!!" -Carly
"Thank you :-)" -bride
"Of course!!!"- Carly
"Yay!!! Can't wait to get it from someone else and spread the joy!!!"-bride

Shop Leap of Faith Clothing Home collection


So if you're looking for a unique shower gift, Leap of Faith Clothing has something for ya! For the bride, for the bridesmaid, and for the kids and babies too!

CAPEtees are for everyone!

The response we've received from everyone over our CAPEtees has been awesome! So awesome, in fact, that we ended up going beyond our original scope of little boys and girls and expanding the products we offered. A lot of adults would hear the idea and get excited about it, saying they wanted CAPEtees too. So we offered them to moms and dads (and bridal parties too!).

Then we got the cutest idea ever when a friend requested a baby onesie just like the regular CAPEtees – I mean, what's cuter than a superhero baby? The idea was finalized when I was at a show and the requests just kept pouring in for baby one pieces - including personalized and monogrammed ones. That got me thinking about including them as a staple product. The onesies with capes were just a natural extension. After all, if you get a CAPEtee for your little one, and you also have a baby, then you'll want one for both kids! It’s perfect for family portraits!

We had to reinvent the cape a little, but we got it right with securely attached vinyl (that isn't going to come off for anything!). In addition to being safe, vinyl is also easy to clean and unobtrusive. Check out this cute little superhero from one of our latest shoots!

We’re also coming out with a new line of summer and tropical themed onesies to match the season! I won’t give everything away, but I will give you a hint - your baby will be styling with preppy, fun designs and prints of something you use in summer when the sun’s shining bright! So keep your eyes peeled; we’ll announce something as soon as we get the first designs made.


About Leap of Faith Clothing

Leap of Faith Clothing is located in Charlotte, NC, and is a line of boys’ and girls’ clothing - specifically CAPEtees, T-shirts with a velcro attached cape that will make any kid feel like a superhero! We also produce baby products such as bibs and onesies, and a line of pet tees!

For more information or to check out our products, visit us out online at www.leapoffaithclothing.com or follow us on Twitter @lofclothing!

Pinterest: Leap of Faith Clothing Contest

Recently, I read this article (entitled A Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest) about how to use Pinterest as a marketer.

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest, it is a virtual cork board of sorts. It reminds me of when I started to put together my office space; the first thing on my list was to have a vision board on the wall...made out of cork! It took me a while to find the perfect cork tiles and pull all the perfect magazine images, quotes,  home pictures, homemade drawings, and other inspirational pieces, but once I completed it, I loved the liveliness that it added to my space.

Pinterest is the same way!  It adds a dimension of liveliness to the social media that inspires me.  I knew starting out there had to be a way Pinterest could help Leap of Faith Clothing.  I also knew there were going to be "power users" that would start making money on Pinterest.  Of course, I aspire to be one of them, but I soon figured out it would take a lot of time on my part.

Even though it’ll add the amount of time you spend on social networks and online marketing, that’s not to say it should be overlooked in favor of other social media sites! According to David Wallace in A Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest, Pinterest is the fastest site to hit 10 million users.  I think this is partially because of the exclusivity of being invited, which adds to the appeal of becoming a "pinner."  Good call, Pinterest innovators! Another plus is that Pinterest is driving search traffic - more than Youtube, Google+, and Linkedin.  Even if Facebook, StumbleUpon and Twitter are still ahead, I’d say it’s a pretty big feat to gain that social media ground over two of the biggest search engines in the world.  Above all, I think the most appealing part of this article is the demographics statistics; Pinterest is hitting my target market head on!

Now, my challenge is to somehow encourage my followers to re-pin my Leap of Faith items. Therefore, we are going to start a contest. So any users who currently have re-pinned or start to re-pin the Leap of Faith Clothing styles will be entered in a contest to win a free t-shirt of their choice and 30% off any other items they choose to buy.  I hope to build awareness and excitement around the Leap of Faith Clothing brand and also reach more of my target market on Pinterest!  Happy Pinning!

To find me on Pinterest, check out my Leap of Faith Clothing Pinterest Board!