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Homeschooling Radio

Tune in on Thursday, September 21, to hear Gena on HomeschoolingRadio.com! You'll be able to download the podcast anytime that day. 

Listen in and let us know what you think!

~Nancy Carter
Public Relations Manager
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

TOS & Answers in Genesis

Look what can happen when you network and build relationships with other companies in your market....

 

 

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/GenesisPromo/

 

Work, work, work...

Well I know it's been a little quiet over here at PRMama, but that's been because the gang at TOS has been busy doing a bit of marketing ourselves.  And  it's been paying off.  We've had some record setting days for subscriptions this past week. 

 

We've networked with support group leaders, vendors, and organizations.  We've made phone calls.  We've sent out press releases.  We went to the FPEA conference.

 

And it's all been fabulous.  We just had to focus on work a bit.  So stop back by to hear the latest news from TOS. 

 

We've got a lot to share!

 

~Nancy Carter

Marketing Manager

NCarter@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

 

Win a Free Ad in February!

We have a fun contest for you this month. All you have to do is look for the answers to these ten questions in our PRMama blog. Once you find the answers, email them to PRMama@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. We’ll select one lucky winner from all of those with the correct answers to win a FREE ¼ page ad (valued at $550) in the Summer 2006 issue of The Old Schoolhouse. Deadline for entries is midnight Wednesday March 8, 2006.

1.	What company is paying bloggers to talk about the Olympics and their products?     A) Pepsi     B) The Old Schoolhouse     C) Coca-Cola     D) HomeschoolBlogger
2.	What is the first law of marketing in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing?
3.	What did the creators of Times Tales do to improve the sales of their mini flipchart on their website?     A) Bundled with other products     B) Reduced the price     C) Advertised heavily on their homepage     D) Changed the packaging
4.	What tagline does KONOS use to describe what makes them different?
5.	How does Gena challenge you to contact 5 people a day to grow?     A) Email them     B) Send them each a personalized letter     C) Comment on their blogs     D) Call them
6.	Should you judge the success of your marketing based on direct response?
7.	What is step 2 in developing your Ready, Set, Action plan?     A) Define your market     B) Look at your company’s history     C) Set goals     D) Develop marketing strategies
8.	What 2 factors work together to draw readers into a print ad?
9.	Which of these methods does Crystal suggest for becoming recognized as an expert in your field?     A) Commit $10,000 a year to advertising     B) Send out 5 press releases a week     C) Contribute articles to other sites with your bio and website link     D) Go to a homeschool conference in each state
10.	What is the most important thing to remember when marketing your product to homeschool parents?

Disclaimer and Legal Notice: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC (“Company”) is sponsoring the PR Mama/TOS Free Ad Contest, running from February 25, 2006—March 8, 2006. You must be 18 years of age or older and follow all rules to participate. Entering the contest constitutes (a) full and complete acceptance of all contest terms, including without limitation all of the www.homeschoolblogger.com Terms of Use (posted at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/legal_notices.php) and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Writer Guidelines and Terms and Conditions for Submitting Queries (posted at http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/writers/index.php), (b) full consent and unlimited permission for Company to print, publish, broadcast and use all submitted information, including without limitation the entrant’s full name and proposed blog entry, on the Internet and in any and all Company publications, including without limitation the Internet websites located at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com , www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com and the print publication The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and (c) acknowledgment that consideration of the entry for potential publication and, if appropriate, publication of the entry in one or more Company publications is the full and complete compensation due the entrant, whether or not Company actually publishes the entry. Entries become the sole property of Company and will not be returned. Employees and independent contractors of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, Company sponsors and advertisers, and their family members may not participate in this contest. Winners will be chosen at random by Company staff. Company reserves the sole, discretionary right to determine contest winners and to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest at any time with or without notice or cause. The invitation to enter this contest is void where restricted or prohibited by law.

Drum Roll Please......

Last month, we challenged all of you to freshen up on your press release writing skills and to submit a press release on our PRMama blog. We got some great entries, and it was very hard to choose. A great variety of businesses entered—homemaking, handcrafted toys, computer education, a CPA, home organization, TheHomeCast, authors, foreign language curriculum, and American History kits. You can check out all of their press releases to see what they all have to offer at the blog. Our winner this month, though, was Lisa Vitello from New Harvest Homestead. She writes an awesome press release!

 

MOST WOMEN DESIRE AN OLD-FASHIONED LIFESTYLE

The New Harvest Homestead newsletter encourages Christian women to slow down and fulfill their dream of the simple life

Carlotta, CA, January 31, 2006—In this tiny, rural hamlet that most people would have a hard time finding on a map, Lisa Vitello is busy feeding her flock of chickens, baking bread and canning jam. As a converted “city-girl” who was passionate about her adopted country lifestyle, Lisa decided to share her enthusiasm with other Christian women. In 2005, the New Harvest Homestead newsletter was born in order to do just that.

After her first child was born, Lisa wanted to learn how to make money by saving money in order to be a stay-at-home mom. She began to teach herself how to grow a vegetable garden, raise animals and preserve her own food. What began as an attempt to save money turned into a soul-satisfying way of life for Lisa and her husband, Guy. “I found out I was a country girl at heart,” she gushes.

When their third child was born, Lisa and Guy discovered homeschooling. It seemed to mesh beautifully with the home-centered, agrarian life they had come to love. But, as time went on, she began to notice a rather unsettling trend among her homeschooling peers. These moms seemed to be constantly on the go and only a hairsbreadth away from total burnout.

“What I saw were moms who were involved in so many different activities between homeschooling, church, errands, and all the other everyday things moms do, that many of them were hardly ever home. And these were ‘stay-at-home’ moms!” she exclaims. Lisa began to invite her friends to her home to learn some of the country skills she had mastered.

“I talked with moms who were yearning to slow down and live a simpler life, but they had little encouragement to do so from the culture around them. They thought being constantly busy was the norm and never questioned it. It was only as we began to meet together that they realized it was O.K. to want to be home most of the time,” Lisa shares.

After discovering a survey taken in 1997 by “Parents Magazine” in which the majority of young mothers 25 and under declared they would prefer the lifestyle of the 1950s, Lisa knew she was on to something. “I wanted to reach those younger moms before they got on the merry-go-round of endless busyness and give them some inspiration for living a home-centered life,” she states. She likes to call it the homestead life, not only because it involves rediscovering old-fashioned skills, but also because the word homestead literally means “steadfast at home.”

The newsletter is published bi-monthly. Topics covered have included everything from raising goats to cultivating a quiet spirit. There is as much inspiration as there is instruction in every issue and one is left feeling like they have just been given “a warm hug from the Lord,” as one reader puts it.

If you want to take a step toward the simple life, be sure to visit the New Harvest Homestead website at www.newharvesthomestead.com and request a free introductory issue of New Harvest. It might just be the first step in your homestead life.

Lisa Vitello, Publisher
New Harvest Homestead newsletter
www.newharvesthomestead.com
NewHarv@aol.com

 

Congratulations, Lisa! As this month’s winner, Lisa will receive a ¼ page ad in the Spring 2006 issue of TOS, valued at $550!