Taking Care of Business

Where did the weekend go? It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and it is back to the grind. Time to buckle down and get back to work - for many of you (both buyers and sellers!) this will be a very busy few weeks with the holiday shopping season in full swing!

Business Question of the Week: Desktop, laptop, smart phone, notebook computer - most of us are connected nearly all of the time. What technology do you find yourself working on? Do you use different things for different tasks - for example you use your laptop to update inventory but your iPhone to update Facebook while you are at the park with the twins?

General Question of the Week: What is your favorite twins, triplets or more inspired song? As a triplet mom, mine is "Three Little Birds, " by Bob Marley. What can be more appropriate for a mom of multiples - " don't worry, about a thing, 'cuz every little thing is gonna be alright!" Is yours "It Takes Two" by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, "Double Vision" by Foreigner, or something else? Post a link to the song so we can all get moving on a Monday!

Remember for Entwined Community members, each comment that is posted on BigTent will give you one entry for a $25 gift card to an Entwined Community member business of your choice! This contest closes on November 30th at midnight PST - just a few days left to enter to win. Comments must be entered on BigTent to count as entries.

Photo credit: Geeky Gadgets

Today's the Day! Small Business Saturday and Twin/Multiples Owned Businesses

Today is the big day - Small Business Saturday! Read some tips for finding twin/multiples owned businesses on Small Business Saturday and throughout the holiday season here.

What twin/multiples owned businesses are you going to visit today? According to Civic Economics, $68 out of every $100 spent at local businesses stays in your local community - let's keep that money in the twin/multiples community!

Thanksgiving Week!

Happy Monday - today was busy, as I am sure will be an indication for the rest of this week! We'll dive right in with our two questions, one about business and one general question. Remember for Entwined Community members only, for each comment that you post on BigTent, you will be entered into a random drawing that month for a fun prize! Not a member yet? Read here about our membership benefits - the first 100 businesses are still just $5 to join and the first 100 individuals are only $1. The prize for November will be a $25 gift certificate to use at your choice of Entwined Community member businesses.

General Question: With Thanksgiving this week, it is easy to get carried away with planning events, trying to find the perfect recipes, etc. Thanksgiving and similar fall festivals originated to demonstrate gratitude for a bountiful harvest - although not many of us harvest these days, we all have a lot to be thankful for. What are you especially thankful for this year?

Business Question of the Week: I have shared with you the history behind Entwined Community - what inspired you to start your business?

Photo from Dr X's Free Association.

Support Twin/Multiples Owned Businesses on Small Business Saturday November 27th

Black Friday is arguably the busiest shopping day of the year, but this year, American Express is asking you to support small businesses on the first ever Small Business Saturday, November 27th. In a news conference at City Hall, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg encourages shoppers to "make it a point to visit local small businesses - it can really make an enormous difference for merchants trying to succeed".

Entwined Community, the web's first network dedicated to supporting businesses owned by twins or the parents of multiples, urges you to not only visit small businesses on this day, but seek out those businesses that are owned by multiple birth families. Visit the Entwined Community website for a growing directory of twin/multiples owned businesses. With over 138,000 sets of twins born in the United States each year, adult multiples and parents of multiples are in your community and may be the people behind your favorite local cafe, shoe store or childcare center - the next time you stop in, ask if they are a twin/multiples family. You've heard of "buy green" and "buy local" - on Small Business Saturday it is time to "buy multiples"! To encourage cardmembers, American Express will give a $25 statement credit to 100,000 users who register their card and use it on Small Business Saturday. Combine this with the discount that Entwined Community businesses offer to Entwined Community members, and you can save money while supporting twin/multiples businesses! For additional information on becoming an Entwined Community member, visit our website.

Some Questions and a Giveaway!

Happy Monday! We are starting off this week with a few new (and hopefully fun) activities! Each week, we will have two questions, one about business and one general question. The questions are posted on our Facebook, Twitter and BigTent accounts, so check them out!

As a special offer for Entwined Community members only, for each comment that you post on BigTent, you will be entered into a random drawing that month for a fun prize! Not a member yet? Read here about our membership benefits - the first 100 businesses are still just $5 to join and the first 100 individuals are only $1. The prize for November will be a $25 gift certificate to use at your choice of Entwined Community member businesses - a great way to start off (or finish up!) some holiday shopping. The fine print - Entwined Community members will receive one entry for each comment they post on BigTent per month. Comments entries are valid on any meaningful comments, not just questions of the week. Meaningful is defined as something that adds value to the conversation - not just posting single word comments that do not help the poster with their question. Winner will be randomly selected from all entries using random number generator software. Members can only win comments giveaway once every 90 days.

General Question: We were watching one of our favorite reality TV shows on Hulu the other day and one of the leads mentioned that he was the father of twin boys - I had no idea! This guy and his friends spend a lot of time in the dark hunting things - who is it? What are some of your favorite TV shows that star adult multiples or parents of multiples?

Business Question of the Week: One of the most difficult decisions I had early on with Entwined Community was coming up with a name. How did you come up with your business name? How long did it take you, what methods did you use to make sure your name was unique and did not infringe on other's trademarks, etc? If you are interested in starting a business and have a question about coming up with a name, share your questions and our community will try to help!

Photo from Flickr Free Use Photo Group: thanks rwhitesi37 for the photo, entitled Colors.