TWINdustry of the Week 08/30 - Crafts/Etsy

Welcome to our new members! Our giveaway with Double Up Books ended yesterday and we are in the process of contacting winners and getting them signed up with memberships. Didn't win? Don't worry - we have launched a new giveaway today on My CNY Mommy! Andrea, a twin mom, blogs about freebies, specials and deals in the Central New York area. Check out Andrea's blog for a chance to win one of 4 memberships (two business and two individuals), the giveaway ends on Monday, September 6th.

Today we are kicking off our new TWINdustry of the week - crafts/Etsy! So many of us are creative and may have considered starting a crafts business. Reach out to other members of entwined community on BigTent and discuss how to start a crafts business, where to find clients and more. Don't forget we will close each week on Friday with a guest post by an entwined community business member in the TWINdustry of the week.

An additional bonus for businesses is savings on signups when your industry is selected as the TWINdustry of the week. This week, from August 30 to August September 5th, crafts/Etsy business owners who are twins/multiples or the parents of multiples can join as a business member of entwined community for just $17.50 - half off the regular business price. Send an email to businessmembership@entwinedcommunity.com for more information.

I hate to say it but the holidays will be here before we know it! If you are starting any gift shopping, please support a fellow multiples family by using an entwined community business member. Check the directory to see what crafts/Etsy style businesses are in your local area or online. If there are not any listed, your challenge this week is to reach out to crafters in your community who are twin/multiples or the parents of multiples and ask them to join our growing community!

TWINdustry Guest Post Friday: Real Estate

Each Friday, we highlight an entwined community member who works in the TWINdustry of the Week. This week's post is by Penny Pelletier, identical twin and real estate agent in Vestal, NY.

My twin Connie and I have been very close since birth. Twins run on both sides of our family - my father had twin uncles and my mother had two sets of twin brothers. Not only do I have a twin sister, but we have a brother and sister who are twins who are 4 years older than us. We are as close as two siblings could be. I can’t imagine what it would be like to not have a twin, as I always had my best friend with me.

Connie and I always seemed to work in the same field. After graduating from high school, I worked as a court clerk and trained my sister to take over after I left to get married. My marriage was our first separation and was quite traumatic for both of us! We both lost weight and our hair fell out - it was awful! We finally adjusted but we certainly had some very high phone bills.

After working in the mortgage and real estate industry, a few years ago I moved back home and convinced my sister to get her real estate license and come work with me. In addition to working great together, we are the only Twin Team in the area and we even have a program on the John Burns Real Estate Show called “Touring with the Twins”. It is such a privilege to work with my sister - it is rare to work with someone you can fully trust to do a good job and be supportive.

Here are a few tips if you are considering working with your twin. First, find something that you both enjoy and excel at. Do you have similar interests or hobbies? Think of how you can pool your strengths to work together as a team. Second, determine who will be responsible for what aspects of the business. If one of you is more outgoing, have that person focus on marketing and community relations. If one of you is more reserved, you may be more comfortable behind the scenes keeping the books straight and dealing with vendors. Finally, market yourself as a twin business! We all know what a unique gift it is to be a twin, reach out to connect with twins in your community who understand this special bond. Using a service like entwined community will help you connect with clients who are looking for business professionals who understand the special twin/multiples bond. We are proud entwined community members, and offer $250 off home inspections for the buyer or $250 credit off commission for sellers.

Penny Pelletier is a Realtor with Realty USA in Vestal, NY. Contact her at
PPelletier@RealtyUSA.com .

TWINdustry of the Week 08/30 - Crafts/Etsy

Using Random.org, our second TWINdustry of the Week is crafts/Etsy! So, if you have a crafting or Etsy style business and also a twin/multiple or parent of twin/multiples, you can sign up as a business member for just $17.50 from 08/30/2010 through 09/05/2010. For more information about the TWINdustry of the Week special offer or to sign up, contact us at businessmembership@entwinedcommunity.com .

For entwined community members, your challenge is to think of crafts or Etsy style businesses in your community to see who is a part of our twin/multiples family and invite them to become a member of entwined community! Watch the blog next week for a guest post contribution from a TWINdustry of the Week member.

Like Us on Facebook

There are a number of ways that you can connect with entwined community, including Facebook. Take a minute to add us to the pages that you "Like" and join in the conversation! Don't forget to share the page with your friends to help our entwined community grow. We just launched yesterday and already have 52 friends - can you help us reach 100 (or more)?

TWINdustry of the Week 08/23 - Real Estate

Welcome to entwined community's launch! Be sure to visit the Double Up Books blog to enter for a chance to win an individual or business membership if you have not joined already. It's Monday, which means we have our first TWINdustry of the week - real estate! What is a TWINdustry?

entwined community helps members connect with a variety of businesses and each week we will randomly select an industry to highlight on the blog. Using a random number generator, we have randomly selected real estate for this week as our featured TWINdustry. Are you interested in learning more about real estate and how to get started? Members of entwined community can connect on BigTent and discuss the TWINdustry of the week with questions on getting started and more. We will close each week on Friday with a guest post by an entwined community business member in the TWINdustry of the week. Check back on Friday for our first guest post by Penny Pelletier, identical twin and Realtor in Vestal, NY.

An additional bonus for businesses is savings on signups when your industry is selected as the TWINdustry of the week. This week, from August 23 to August 29th, real estate agents who are twins/multiples or the parents of multiples can join as a business member of entwined community for just $17.50 - half off the regular business price. Send an email to businessmembership@entwinedcommunity.com for more information.

Unfortunately due to the economy, many families find themselves in the situation of having to sell their home or downsize. If you need a real estate agent, consider supporting a fellow multiples family by using an entwined community business member. Check the directory to see if there are any real estate agents in your area. If there are not any listed, your challenge this week is to reach out to real estate agents in your community who are twin/multiples or the parents of multiples and ask them to join our growing community!

Our First Giveaway Partner!

I am so excited to announce our first giveaway partner for next week's launch - Double Up Books! Double Up Books is the premier bookstore for twins, triplets and more and is owned by twin mom Shelby Tutty. Double Up Books is a full-service bookstore featuring books about parenting and raising twins, twin and multiples pregnancy, breastfeeding twins and multiples, childproofing for twins, twin and multiples psychology, twin baby memory books and more. They also sell a handpicked selection of parenting, family, relationships, home life and children's books too!

Stay tuned next week for how you can enter to win one of 10 business or 10 individual memberships to entwined community. In the meantime, check in with Shelby on her blog, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Double Up Books is also an entwined community business, where you can save 10% off of your order of $25 or more. Become a member and take the pledge to support businesses like Double Up Books today!

Twindustry of the Week

Starting next week, we will have a fun way that you can reach out and connect with entwined community. Each week, we will randomly select an industry - or in this case TWINdustry - of the week. Twin/multiples business owners work in a variety of industries and we will be highlighting a different one each week. Here is how it works:

• entwined community has created a list of current and prospective business member industries. This list is numbered currently from 1 to 34 and may increase over time as our community grows.


• The list also forms the backbone of our "tags' system in the entwined community directory, where you can search for businesses by tags.


• The list was also used on our BigTent site as the foundation for our industry based subgroups, where business owners can discuss issues specific to their industry, such as advertising strategies, etc.
  
• Using a random number generator site, we will randomly select one number each week which will be the selected Twindustry of the Week.


• entwined community members are encouraged to reach out to professionals in their community that week to see if they are eligible to join entwined community.


• As an additional bonus, entwined community will offer 50% off the business membership for businesses in the Twindustry of the Week. Twindustry of the Week will be announced on Mondays of each week, so the discount for that week would be valid for new business signups occurring from Monday through Sunday of that week.

Using Random.org, our first Twindustry of the Week will be........industry number 28, real estate agents! So, if you are a real estate agent and also a twin/multiple or parent of twin/multiples, you can sign up as a business member for just $17.50 from today (08/18/2010) through 08/29/2010. For more information about the Twindustry of the Week special offer or to sign up, contact us at businessmembership@entwinedcommunity.com .

For entwined community members, your challenge is to think of real estate agents in your community to see who is a part of our twin/multiples family and invite them to become a member of entwined community! Watch the blog next week for a guest post contribution from a Twindustry of the Week member.

Flickr

In addition to networking via BigTent, entwined community members can also connect and share via Flickr. Did you eat dinner at a cafe owned by a twin family? Take a picture and submit it to our gallery to share with other members. entwined community will run special contests where you can vote for your favorite pictures. So don't be shy - get out there, meet some local twin/multiples business owners and submit your photos today!

Take "The Pledge"!

I have been working on the pledge and will shortly have it posted to the website. Here is a preview:

As a member of entwined community, I pledge:

• To make a conscious effort to purchase goods or services from twin/multiples owned businesses whenever possible;
• To spread the word about entwined community by following the “each one, teach one” principle – where I will teach one twin/multiples family the benefits of supporting twin/multiples businesses;
• To support twin/multiples nonprofit efforts via financial, time or goods donations whenever possible.

Just one week away from the launch - stay tuned for giveaway locations!

Nonprofit Listings are Free!

Did you know that nonprofits that are twin/multiples operated, such as parents of multiples clubs, can be listed on entwined community for free? Here's how it works.

Contact us at businessmembership@enwtinedcommunity.com and let us know some basic information such as the name of your nonprofit, your contact information and web address. entwined community will get back with you and once you are approved, you will be sent your introductory business package which includes a window cling for bricks and mortar nonprofits, an invitation to BigTent, our online group management site, your individual membership card, and more.

So what are the benefits of joining entwined community for nonprofits? entwined community is a community of multiples and parents of multiples who actively seek out twin/multiples owned businesses both in their local communities and online. They have made a pledge to "buy multiples" when possible, and this means they may be willing to get involved in your nonprofit as well! You may be able to connect with individuals who are interested in donating funds, volunteering for your organization or attending your special events. Use the BigTent group management site to share with members your special news and announcements and help get the word out about your cause. Have an upcoming special event, such as a Yard Sale? Have it posted on the BigTent calendar to drive additional traffic to your event.

Once you have joined entwined community as a nonprofit member, consider becoming the moderator of the Nonprofit subgroup on BigTent - send an email to bigtent@entwinedcommunity.com for additional information. Coming soon entwined community will be launching a fundraising campaign - learn more about how you can raise funds for your twin/multiples related nonprofit by staying tuned.

Gearing up for August Launch!

Things have been busy in preparation of the August 23rd launch of entwined community! The finishing touches are being put on the website, business cards and clings are on the way, we are getting close! Here are some of the plans we have for our special launch.

I am busy networking with several partners to arrange for giveaways of both individual and business memberships. Once these giveaways are confirmed, I will share the locations so you can enter for a chance to win!

You may have also noticed on the website our special introductory offer. The greatest benefits from entwined community come when we have an active community with many members who can use their membership cards to get discounts at a variety of online and local retailers and service providers. Since entwined community is just starting out, we are offering special introductory prices of just $1 for individuals or just $5 for businesses. If you aren't a lucky winner in one of our giveaways, purchase a membership today before these introductory prices are gone.

Finally, we are looking for moderators for our online community, BigTent. Both individuals and business members have many ways to connect with other entwined community members through subgroups such as:

• Work Categories: Whether you work at home, out of the home, are thinking about starting your own business, or work for a nonprofit, connect with members in similar situations here for advice and support related to work situations.
• Regions: Want to learn about deals and specials in your local area? Connect with individuals and businesses in our regional subgroups (Northeast, South, Midwest and West). Regional subgroups also allow members to participate in forums by state.
• Industries: Do you run a hair salon and want to network with other twin/multiple stylists for business advice? Join one of the 29 industry specific subgroups such as restaurants and catering, education/classes, domestic services, crafts/Etsy, finance/law and more.

Want to be a moderator? Don't see the subgroup that you are looking for? Contact bigtent@entwinedcommunity.com and let us know!