Oh Storks, I must apologize. Life has really gotten in the way of my blogging recently and I’m sorry for not being here with regularity. (I feel a New Years Resolution coming on…)

Right now, I have a couple of quick things to catch you up on.

• The Lifetime Membership sale has ended for this year. Thank you to all of our new lifers!
• Moderator Xochilt is running a very festive 12 Days of Christmas game for our members. Please check it out in the Off-Topic forum and play along! In addition to the fun, you could win some great prizes!
• Perhaps the most famous stork (to date!) was recently featured on The Nate Berkus Show! Kim (you may remember her as Kimberbell) and her sister Kris are very successful entrepreneurs with several websites to their credit. An inspirational success story! If you’d like to see them on the show, you can view clips here (there are 4 total).  Then be sure to check out their websites:

I hope you are able to find a moment to relax and enjoy this holiday season. And now…I must return to my baking!

Filed under: General HCTS Info, The Daily Stork by Rebecca
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As I announced a few weeks ago, Lifetime Premier Memberships are for sale again.  An ‘early-bird’ discount is available for those who are ready to take the plunge, but today is the last day!

If you are ready to join today, October 18th, you can still save $15 on a lifetime membership!

If not, never fear!  You can still become a lifetime member for $129 through December 14th.  Even at ‘full’ price, this is a big savings over paying monthly bills, and you are sure to reap the rewards of membership for years to come!  Many of our Lifetime Members have found that they easily make their membership money back in the first month using a tip they found in the forums!

So what are you waiting for?  Become a Lifetime Premier Member today!  Not only will you save money and gain business knowledge, you’ll be entered into a drawing for great prizes, too!

Filed under: Freebies, Giveaways and Prizes, General HCTS Info by Rebecca
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As I told you on Friday, we recently bid farewell to one of our moderators, Melisha.  And as I announced in the forum on Saturday, I have hired a new mod to take her place.

So Linda…

(I’ll let you guess who is who up there^!)

Linda is a wife, mother, cancer survivor, eBay seller, and motivator extraordinaire.  Linda is the brains behind many of the listing challenges we do!  She’s been an UN-official stork cheerleader for quite some time, and it’s great to have her officially on staff now.

If you haven’t ‘met’ Linda already, please pop into the forum and wish her well!

Filed under: General HCTS Info by Rebecca
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Or is it just that way for me?  I’ve got a mile-long to-do list and a serious shortage of time in which to accomplish it all.

I was talking to an old unmarried, childless friend the other day and realized that every time I do talk to him, he asks me how I am, and always my response is the same:  Busy.  Tired.  The usual.

It’s a mom’s lot in life, isn’t it?

But between the schooling and the swimming and the church events and everything else we have to do, we’ve enjoyed squeezing in a few fun fall activities.  I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather and the change of seasons as well!

Just a couple of things to keep in mind going into this weekend. First is, of course, the Lifetime Premier Memberships that are currently being offered.  If you can buy yours before October 18th, you’ll snag additional savings to make this an even better deal than we know it is already!

Second, if you’ve not already listed your Halloween costumes, you must do so this weekend!  This is crunch time so get on it – you know you don’t want to hold them until next year!

[Note to self: List costumes that I have been holding since last year]

Shame on me!

Third, did you know that Pumpkin Spice lattes and (my personal favorite) pumpkin scones are back at Starbucks?  Yum!  I think we’ll have a game in the forums next week with a Starbucks gift card prize.  We can arrange a long-distance coffee date!

And finally…have a great weekend!

Filed under: General HCTS Info by Rebecca
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Do you know that Here Comes The Stork has a Facebook page? We’d love for you to become our fan!

Challenge: I’d like to get to 500 facebook fans by the end of the month! If we reach 500 fans by the end of this month, I will give one lucky fan a free year-long HCTS subscription!! Recommend us to your friends!! Prize will be awarded on October 1st, if the goal is reached!

HCTS facebook fan page

Filed under: Freebies, Giveaways and Prizes, General HCTS Info by Rebecca
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Perhaps one of the hardest things about being a Stay At Home Mom or working from home is feeling like you are never around grown ups. Yes, we stay home partly because we want to spend precious time with our children, but the truth is you can’t share everything with your children.  There are times you just need to laugh or vent to a friend.

I am so thankful for my friends at Here Comes The Stork!  Knowing if I have a question about shipping an item, how to deal with an angry customer, what is selling right now, how to take a photo of something or just to vent…someone is always there.

How has Here Comes The Stork helped you, and what are you thankful for?
I would love to hear!

Filed under: General HCTS Info by Melisha
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Sometimes you need a break…and that’s OK!

For the past few weeks my “To Do” list has been longer than my days.

• 3 kids with end of school year projects
• music lessons
• baby showers
• singing practice for church
• managing a web site
• shipping orders daily
• laundry, laundry, laundry
• cleaning house
• grocery shopping
• meal planning
• cooking
• planning end of school year parties
• teaching classes
• fundraisers
• etc., etc., etc…

In addition to all those things and more, I have been trying to find time to list more inventory into my eBay store.  Well, last week I didn’t even try. My eBay store was not on my list at all.  I decided to forget about it for a week or two, and you know what?  It was fine!

Part of the beauty of eBay is that you don’t have to treat it like a full time job. You can put it on the back burner for a week or two or more, and it will be there when you come back (just don’t forget to check if you need to ship something!).  It’s also very easy to put your store on vacation if you need a break from shipping, too.

When you need to, don’t hesitate to take a little pressure off yourself. Even Mom’s can’t do everything!

Need some tips on working smarter instead of harder?

Consider a membership to

We are a community thousands strong of online selling success. Our members share tips and information daily as we grow together and help each other along the way.

Filed under: General HCTS Info, The Daily Stork by Melisha
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We only offer this once or twice a year, so now is your chance. This option will only be available through May 31st, 2010.

I am so grateful for all of our members who have made HCTS a wonderful resource and support system for Ebay sellers and moms. I am happy that so many of you want to stay with us “for life.” You are what makes this place great! Things have gotten really exciting around here with all of our challenges and contests!! The money raised from the sale of these lifetime memberships will be used for further contests and games. I have some really great ideas, and I can’t wait to make it all happen! ~ Rebecca

The Premier Lifetime Membership will be available for only $129, a significant discount if you plan to be with us for a while. Each person who registers as a Premier Member will also receive an entry into a raffle to win GREAT prizes! You all know we love a good raffle here at HCTS! This time it’s a little bit different-you get to pick your own prize because all the prizes are cold, hard, PAYPAL cash gifts!!

1st Prize – $100 CASH!!!

2nd Prize -$50 CASH

3rd Prize -$20 CASH

4th Prize -$10 CASH

** Drawing will take place on Tuesday June 1st. Rebecca will email the winners for their preferred paypal address. All current Lifetime Premier Members are also entered into this drawing.

If you would like to become a Premier Member and enter our raffle, please take the following steps:

NEW MEMBERS:

Easy-peasy…just log into http://www.herecomesthestork.com/amember/signup.php and select Lifetime Membership.

EXISTING MEMBERS:

1) Login using your current user name and password here:
http://www.herecomesthestork.com/amember/member.php

2) Use the “Select Product” drop down menu to select the Lifetime Premier Membership. Follow the steps to pay through Paypal.

3) Go back to your membership page here:
http://www.herecomesthestork.com/amember/member.php

Cancel the current membership that you are signed up for in order to prevent future billings. Because of the deep discount on these memberships-current memberships are not eligible for a prorated refund.

Enjoy!

Filed under: Freebies, Giveaways and Prizes, General HCTS Info, The Daily Stork by jmk_akk
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It seems like there’s an app for everything these days….groceries, restaurants, nearest (and cheapest) gas stations, exercise, weather, well…..you get the point. Well, guess what? If you’re an HCTS member, we’ve got an app for you!

Tapatalk iPhone (also works with iPod Touch) connects to HereComesTheStork.com (with Tapatalk support activated), allows you to participate the latest discussions, post topics and responses to topics all on the tailor-made iPhone interface. So you no longer need to pinch-zooming with Safari, not to mention it uses much less bandwidth.

Just search for “tapatalk” in the app store. The cost is 2.99 (that goes to the app developer not HCTS) and is a one-time fee.

Once you have the app installed, you can find us in “business”. Click on the HCTS logo, log-in at the bottom-and you are good to go!

Filed under: General HCTS Info by jmk_akk
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One of the things I (and Kendra, also) get asked over and over is, “Can you make Here Comes The Stork T-shirts?” With our cute new logo, I have decided to take the plunge. Cafe Press has a huge selection of merchandise that just looks ADORABLE! I also think that our logo merchandise is perfect for expecting mothers/baby shower gifts. Who knows, maybe we’ll find new members through this avenue?  Anyhow, without further ado…

http://www.cafepress.com/TheStorks

And here are a few of my favorite items:

I’ll be using items from here for future giveaways-so stay tuned!

Filed under: General HCTS Info, Shopping by Rebecca
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