New Year, New Style, New Decor? - Featured guest post on Market Mommy.com

Back-to-school season is a great time to think about making simple changes to your child's decor to reflect their developing interests and style.  We recently shared tips on how to make these changes as the featured guest blogger on Market Mommy.com.  To read more, check out our post Back To School - New Year, New Style, New Decor?  We would love to have you share your tips for refreshing your child's decor in the comments section below.

Keeping our children safe while online

I have to admit, online communities for children make me a bit nervous.  With the increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and texting our children are connected in ways I couldn't have imagined.  As a parent, I want to protect my children from unwanted influences as much as possible.  I know there are a lot of safe online communities out there, but finding them can be challenging.  So, I was thrilled to have connected with iTwixie, an online community for tween girls.

iTwixie offers a place for tween girls to connect in a safe environment that focuses on positive encouragement and building self-esteem. With a variety of categories including iThink, iMActive, iTwixology, and iConnect girls can learn about a many different topics that interest them.  iTwixie also features Twixing, a paid chat service for $2.99/month.  The great thing about Twixing is that an iTwixieAdmin is an active participant on every chat, so that every girl has a positive voice, role model and moderator for safety, and parents can feel confident that their daughters will not experience bullying or inappropriate comments when they are Twixing.  Additionally, iTwixie has a Parent Circle to keep parents informed of changes in the online community and features positive parenting advice and articles.

So, if you are the parent of a tween girl or know of a tween girl who would be interested in joining iTwixie, make sure to visit their site and tell them we sent you :)  

Right now, Kids Decor Inc. is proud to be partnering with iTwixie to sponsor a DIY craft as part of their  weekly Design Dimension feature.  Check out these cute Make Ur Own Storage Baskets.  For additional storage options for your child's room, make sure to visit our website, Kids Decor Inc.

If you know of any other online communities for children that you feel are safe and appropriate, we would love to hear about them.  Please leave a comment below so others can check them out as well.

Online Business Directories - Making Them Work for You

As a mompreneur with a limited advertising budget, I am always looking for inexpensive ways to promote my business, Kids Decor Inc.  While searching for places to list my business, I came across Market Mommies, a free online directory for mom-owned businesses and blogs.  I was impressed with the site from the very beginning.  It was well organized and updated frequently.  I immediately listed my business and saw increased traffic to my site.

Over time, I have learned of the benefits Market Mommies provides to both mompreneurs and shoppers.  I have enjoyed browsing the listings for my personal shopping and looking through the wholesale directory for products that would be a good fit for my business.  I was honored to be asked by Market Mommies creator, Toni Bloomfield, to write a blog posting detailing the ways in which I have used the directory to grow my business.  You can check out the posting here:

http://marketmommies.com/_blog/Market_Mommies_Blog/post/How_One_Mom_is_Using_Marketmommiescom/

Additionally, I have now become a Market Mommies Contributing Author and look forward to sharing my experiences as a business owner and learning from other moms as well.  To read my most recent contributing article, Customer Service - The Key Ingredient click below:

http://marketmommies.com/_blog/Market_Mommies_Blog/post/Customer_Service_-_The_Key_Ingredient/

So, if you are a mompreneur with your own business or blog, I would highly encourage you to visit Market Mommies and get it listed today.  I am really thankful that I found Market Mommies and I know that it will continue to be a key part of the marketing strategy for Kids Decor Inc. in the years to come.