#moolahoop

Looking at Linda Nofer, owner of Barfitness Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, you would never know that just over a year ago she nearly died as a result of an unhealthy addiction: alcohol. On March 12, 2013, Linda drank herself to a BAC of .375, wrecked her car, and was found unresponsive. From that moment on, everything changed. “I am a totally different human being than I was on that day,” says Nofer.

As she began to rebuild her life, Nofer was told that the rent on her studio location would rise. Already in the process of opening her Barfitness Studio, this produced a significant hurdle. She was forced to move to a new location that was, unfortunately, detrimental to her business. She had a loyal following but she knew that if she stayed in her space, she might lose them. Forced with choosing to either fold or move again, Linda scrambled to find a way to afford a move into a more suitable space.

The first time she came across MoolaHoop, she dismissed it, thinking she’d simply be asking for charity. “I obviously was uneducated,” says Nofer. “The more I learned about it, I realized it was a great way to raise money and it was in no way asking for donations.”

Her strategy? Rally the troops. “After five years of being with my clients, every single penny I have ever earned goes into this business. I have given my all to it. It’s not just brick and mortar; it’s the people who come here every day. We are a community. Instead of making this decision all by myself, why not involve everyone?” She consulted her loyal customers, and together they agreed that MoolaHoop was the road to survival for Barfitness Studio.

They crafted a strategic plan, careful to set attainable, reasonable goals. Nofer was deliberate and clear in explaining to her clients that she was not asking for donations; she was simply asking them to purchase discounted class packages in advance as part of the MoolaHoop crowdfunding campaign.

“MoolaHoop is a brilliant up-and-coming way for small business owners to turn to the people who are most vested in their business, including them in the solution to raise money,” said Nofer. “Additionally, MoolaHoop co-founder Nancy Hayes gave me some great advice.”

Nofer credits her customers, who were involved in the details (down to the carpet color), for much of the victory. “You don’t stand a chance in being successful in this type of business if you don’t include your customers. It’s the difference between them spending their money at my studio or the other place two blocks away.”

Today, after a successful MoolaHoop campaign and lots of hard work, Barfitness Studio operates in its new home, lead by a sober, healthy, and happy owner. Nofer encourages all women to pursue their goals, regardless of any current situation. “You can come back from being behind in the race, so don’t give up. There is always a solution, and the journey will be best traveled with loyal company.”

About MoolaHoop: 

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

  Does the idea of adding one more thing to your to do list make you cringe?

 If you’re running a business someone has probably mentioned that you should have a blog, but it might not be clear how exactly a blog benefits your audience.

3 Benefits of Blogging for Business

1. Spotlight Your Brand

Every time you write a blog post, you are creating a new way to get discovered through social media. You are creating content that people can share on social networks: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, that is exposing your brand to a new audience that doesn’t know you yet (or an audience who found you before but has forgotten you in the meantime)!

This is a great chance for you to highlight what exactly you do, how well you do it and what you’re an expert in.

 2. Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A blog provides dynamic and changing content that can help improve your search ranking on Google and other search engines.  Every time you write a blog post, it is a cue to search engines that your website is active. Blogs allow you to insert keywords that help viewers narrow down their search. It is more likely they will find your blog as a perfect match!

  3. Attract new visitors and keep current ones

With an increased presence, thanks to SEO and social media, both new and current visitors will be looking for engaging and helpful content. A blog is a perfect way to encourage web traffic to your website. This is a chance for viewers to interact with the content you’re sharing and get a better feel for your brand. 

   If you have a blog list it below and let us know what’s working for you!

Or, if you’re not sure what to blog about just let us know and we’ll share a few ideas too. 

  For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

www.moola-hoop.com

Images found:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205652436668/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/466404105132506276/

Post by Brenda Bazan and Nancy Hayes, MoolaHoop Co-Founders

This week marks an important milestone in realizing our dreams to help other women entrepreneurs realize theirs. 

Women-owned businesses represent almost 30% of all new startups in the US, yet women entrepreneurs receive just 5% of all venture capital and only 12% of all institutional debt. As a result, most women-owned businesses are smaller from the onset, absorb more personal debt, and grow more slowly.

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform built to help women leverage their social and professional networks to start, build or grow their businesses. Launched on July 24th , this is the first site of its kind designed especially for women entrepreneurs. 

We worked together at the IBM Corporation and each left our senior management positions there a number of years ago to build careers in social services nonprofits, academia and small business. Now our signature offering represents our desire to generate positive social impact by helping to address the disparity in funding available to women entrepreneurs.

Our personal experience consulting with and supporting women entrepreneurs revealed no shortage of creativity, passion and hard work. Capitalizing on the popularity of rewards-based crowdfunding, MoolaHoop takes its first step to help women entrepreneurs reach parity for access to capital and unleash an important source of economic growth.

The Say Yes! campaign is presented at launch on MoolaHoop byBlueAvocado and Open Arms to attract funds to support the creation of a collection of ‘Made in the USA’ reusable products manufactured by women war survivors. 

BlueAvocado is a women-founded Austin-based certified B Corp that has realized double-digit growth the past two years and is at an inflection point as consumers seek to green their lifestyle. Through its partnership with Open Arms—a women-owned manufacturing company that employs women refugee survivors—BlueAvocado is using MoolaHoop to fund a new line of reusable bags produced from reclaimed t-shirts and remnant fabrics and manufactured in Austin by Open Arms employees. As a result, BlueAvocado can offer a line of locally made and sourced products, and Open Arms can expand its manufacturing capacity and provide more living wage jobs for women refugees.

If 4,000 people purchase one reusable tote, Blue Avocado and Open Arms can keep more than 200,000 disposable bags out of landfills, upcycle 2,000 t-shirts, and give four women war survivors a full-time job, benefits and literacy classes for four months. If 40,000 people participate, the companies can upcycle two million disposables and Open Arms can employ 28 women refugees. This is the kind of deep, measurable impact that MoolaHoop can make possible.

Our partnership with Blue Avocado and Open Arms, along with other women entrepreneurs presenting their campaigns at launch, is a demonstration of the power of women to create a better world through business.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA and AUSTIN, TX (July 24, 2013) - Launching today, MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform designed to help women-owned businesses achieve financial success. Created by women to help women leverage the increasing power of crowdfunding to start, build or grow their business, MoolaHoop enables female business entrepreneurs, owners and managers to garner financial support for their idea or project by leveraging their social networks.

MoolaHoop's launch features the BlueAvocado and Open Arms campaign to fund the creation of an eco-collection of Made in the USA reusable totes manufactured by women war survivors using reclaimed t-shirts and remnant fabrics.

MoolaHoop was developed to help narrow the gap in funding available to women entrepreneurs. Women-owned businesses represent almost 30% of new startups in the U.S., yet receive just 5% of all venture capital and 12% of all institutional debt. As a result, they are smaller from the onset and grow more slowly. Capitalizing on the explosive growth in rewards-based crowdfunding, MoolaHoop is out to change this dynamic.

Austin, TX-based BlueAvocado is a women-founded, women-run, certified B Corp that has realized double-digit growth the past two years and is at a growth inflection point as consumers seek to "green" their lifestyle.  To expand its product portfolio and further green its supply chain, BlueAvocado turned to MoolaHoop, allowing its customers to help them grow and innovate. Through a partnership with Open Arms—a women-owned manufacturing company that employs women refugee survivors—BlueAvocado is using MoolaHoop to fund a new line of Made in the USA reusable bags produced from reclaimed t-shirts and remnant fabrics and manufactured in Austin by Open Arms employees. As a result, BlueAvocado can offer a line of Made in the USA products produced locally, and Open Arms can expand its manufacturing capacity and provide more employment opportunities for women refugee survivors.

"Our partnership with Moola Hoop and Open Arms is a demonstration of the power of women entrepreneurs to create a better world through business. Our campaign invites others to 'Say YES' to wasting less and empowering more, and the MoolaHoop platform makes it possible," commented BlueAvocado Co-Founder Amy George. "If 4,000 people Say YES to one reusable bag we can keep more than 200,000 disposable bags out of landfills, upcycle 2,000 T-shirts and give four women survivors a full-time job, benefits and literacy classes for four months. If 40,000 Say YES, we can employ 28 women, and avoid two million disposables. This is deep, measurable impact."

"We are delighted to highlight the Say YES project as part of our launch," said MoolaHoop Co- Founder Brenda Bazan. "It's an inspired concept that supports our mission to help make it easier for great women entrepreneurs to get funded, and a project that will strongly resonate with our users. By using the MoolaHoop platform to engage and enlist BlueAvocado and Open Arms customers and supporters, we are confident they will reach their crowdfunding goal."

The MoolaHoop crowdfunding platform marks the first step in the design and development of a robust ecosystem of business services, information and partnerships - the "Hoop" - to fund and provide ongoing support to women entrepreneurs. As envisioned by company Co-Founders Brenda Bazan and Nancy Hayes, MoolaHoop will grow to offer a full suite of resources to support women-owned and -led businesses, including access to equity funding, education, mentoring and skills.

In addition to the Say YES BlueAvocado/Open Arms campaign, MoolaHoop launches with a project by Live Worldly to expand its global fashion marketplace; a campaign to help Life Out of the Box grow its line of artisan jewelry; and Tatty Tat's  project to enable the creation and purchase of personalized temporary tattoos from mobile devices. With new projects posted weekly, MoolaHoop anticipates hosting more than 20 women-focused crowdfunding campaigns over the next few months.

For more information, to submit a project, or to contribute to a current MoolaHoop campaign, please visitwww.moola-hoop.com.

About MoolaHoop

Founded by two experienced women business leaders, MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform designed for women entrepreneurs. Capitalizing on the explosive growth in rewards-based crowdfunding--projected to generate more than $700 million for businesses and projects in 2013-- MoolaHoop is the only platform dedicated to the funding and acceleration of U.S.-based women-owned or-led businesses. MoolaHoop is building an ecosystem of business support and services, and developing partnerships with women-focused organizations and institutions, to seamlessly connect women to the financial, human and social capital they need for business success. MoolaHoop has offices in Dallas, TX and San Francisco, CA. www.moola-hoop.com.

About Blue Avocado

BlueAvocado is a premium eco-lifestyle brand synonymous with inspiration, impact and integrity. With its covetable designs, affordable price points and sustainable products, BlueAvocado is poised to deliver on their promise to empower people to reduce their ecological footprint, enable the dreams of other women entrepreneurs and create an impact that inspires action. In fact, the original vision of three women, friends and sisters, has evolved into a new model for business success, a better B-corp business. To date, the company has kept over 128 million disposable alternatives out of landfills, upcycled more than three million bottles and invested in more than 450 women micro-entrepreneurs. Find out more about their mission to "smile more and waste less" at www.blueavocado.com.

About Open Arms