Meet Shara Lawrence-Weiss, owner of Mommy Perks:
Mommy Perks Media Buzz
 Prior to purchasing Mommy Perks, I was a Mommy Perks Rep (starting in 2007). I then become co-owner and later, sole owner (in early 2009). I have a background in education, early childhood, nanny work, professional freelance, special needs, literacy workshops, volunteerism and marketing.
My husband and I both work from home, sitting just a few feet apart. Rick has owned his own business, in some fashion, for more than 23 years. Rick has a background in pastoral work, legislation, political science, theology, counseling, web design, development, graphic art, print design, marketing, teaching and more.
Rick and I have three children and are currently expecting our fourth (photo taken on 11-11-11).
Rick owns and runs Design Media Pros: a web design and development company. I own and run two business: Mommy Perks and Personal Child Stories. We have placed many of our offerings on one site: Pine Media. Together, Rick and I run multiple websites now. We have designed and developed these sites ourselves:
Mommy Perks | Kids Perks | Pine Media
Personal Child Stories | Music Guide
Reliable Bloggers | Dr. Sally Parenting Tips | Early Childhood News and Resources
If you would like to inquire about our services you can
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, stop by the Pine Media site (click the link above) or tweet me. People often ask me to promote and market them for free, assuming that I am a mom blogger looking for content to engage my readers. I can't work for free, however, we believe that our rates are very reasonable. With our backgrounds, we bring to the table more than 27 years of combined experience.
Long term results is the ultimate goal with each business that I serve and help. I assist business owners (namely mom-owned) with planting seeds and I teach them to water those seeds. It all takes time. Nothing grows over night (other than bacteria).
I've had my fair share of attention from the media including TV interviews, print media promotions, magazine features, magazine bio's through my published articles and more. Over the years I've found that Online promotion is far more effective, long term, especially when you implement SEO strategies, good customer service, a helping hand and a listening ear. Big media buzz is fun, short term, and can boost your traffic temporarily. However, an understanding of online marketing, social media strategies and relationship marketing work toward long term goals and small business longevity. For that reason, I help my clients with online promotions and I do not focus on short term print results that quickly fade away and end up in a garbage or recycle bin. There are countless PR firms offering short term campaigns and you can Google to find them. I prefer to work with my clients long term (as a team), when possible. Building your reputation and stamina online takes great effort and is not for the faint of heart.
Patience and perseverance, I always say. Slow and steady wins the race. Relationships over Numbers. People over Money. Caring over Fame. Welcome to the Mommy Perks way of thinking 
This and That:
As of September, 2010, Mommy Perks is considered a Global company. We have members world wide and in every US state. We have an extensive and loyal twitter following, a loyal and committed fan page group, and a family-like feel across all of our websites. We have never purchased media lists or email lists. We have built what have from the ground up through hard work, word of mouth, networking, marketing and dedication.
For those of you who want advertising with no PR, we won't turn you down. Click here to view our Ad Packages page. To inquire about PR/social media services please visit our Pine Media site and click on "Pick a Plan." We'll asses your business and your needs and reply with a quote.
*To inquire about donations of any kind (time, PR, products or finances), please visit our Donation Inquiries page.
What others are saying about Mommy Perks:
Your newsletters are awesome! You are an amazing resource.The information is top notch, and your caring heart comes through in every word.
Sally Goldberg, PhD
Parenting Tips with Dr. Sally
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Working with Mommy Perks has always been a pleasure for us! It is rare to find someone who is as thorough, honest, caring, timely, and as knowledgeable as Shara! She works diligently to make sure that even the smallest of details are taken care of for her clients. We highly recommend!
Darla
Co-owner
The Preschool Toolbox
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I have to say that I am very excited! I've been doing a little bit of research and you are highly recommended! Your advertisers and PR clients absolutely adore you :-) I know that I will be in great hands!! I hope that you can deal with all my crazy questions!
Victoria
Owner/Founder
ABC Creative Learning
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I have benefited so much from all of your time and effort. I enjoy your writing, from the business, to the mom side, hearing your ups and downs and sharing your real life everyday stories...I'm not kidding when I say you've brought me back down to earth on many occasions!
Thanks for the business help as well. I've read so many of your business articles and tweets along the way, you've already helped me so much. This was all something I never imagined I would get into, so for a green bird like me, you've been such a huge lifesaver! I'm pretty sure that I would have melted down, lost and drowned weeks ago if it hadn't been for your advice.
Nathalie
Owner/Founder
Little Wrappers
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Integrity, vision and relationships is what drives me as a business owner. I have the fortunate opportunity to share a business vision, with an amazing business partner and friend. Our goal has always been to work with others who share our business drive and integrity. Through the mom-entrepreneurial-focused internet world, we fortunately connected with Shara Lawrence-Weiss and her Mommy Perks community. It has been not only a pleasure to work with her but an inspiration. In my many years of sales, face-to-face business relations is imperative to solidify a trusting and respected relationship where there is a mutual collaboration. We have hired Mommy Perks for a few marketing and PR activities as well as used Pine Media (associated with Mommy Perks) for assistance in a time-sensitive web-based redesign. Shara's personalized business guidance and supportive blogs and posts have helped our business tremendously. With no hesitation, Mommy Perks is the 'go-to' place I tell all new entrepreneurs needing advice, social media support, PR and new business guidance and exposure. Her services are reasonable, fair and very personalized. As a mother and past early childhood education, I also raise my thumbs to all the great resource links Shara provides such as Kids Perks, Early Childhood News and Resources and her amazing parenting blogs.
Thank you for your support, services and online resources Shara. For all the energy you put into your client's needs - to create success - I hope the success come back to you ten-fold.
Catherine Finlayson
CEO
Bibagogo by ISISunders
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I found Mommy Perks through Facebook. A page I followed had a ton people visiting from Mommy Perks so I went over to check it out. I found Shara of Mommy Perks to be authentic and ethical and signed up for PR services. She takes the time and effort to know the businesses she promotes and her PR and SEO articles have been priceless! I have them all printed out and I refer to them frequently.
Shara of Mommy Perks gets results! When she talks people listen because she cares and she is trustworthy. Bonus: you get to meet and network with other outstanding business women.
Bola
Owner/Founder
Slimy Bookworm
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In a world full of strangers, Mommy Perks stands out above the rest. They are the type of people who genuinely step up to the plate to assist others no matter what. Their talent rings true in a world where everyone says, "I know how to help you." but they really do know how! Trust them, you won't be sorry.
Sharon and Howard Silver
Owner/Founder
Proactive Parenting
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I think it's safe to say that anyone who meets Mommy Perks (aka Shara) can immediately see how funny, smart, kind, generous and thoughtful she is.
In addition to those great qualities, Shara is a great business woman and generous in sharing what she has learned along the way. The Mommy Perks philosophy is apparent: kids and people's feelings come first. I feel lucky to have had the good fortune to meet Mommy Perks! Shara has a way of making us feel a part of a big family!
Mommy Perks "Walks the Talk." As she says: "Patience and Perseverance, Slow and steady wins the race. Relationships over Numbers. People over Money. Caring over Fame."
Ava Parnass
Founder/Owner
Listen To Me Please
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{Email sent to another mom, who had inquired about working with Mommy Perks} :
"I am a Mommy Perks partner which means that I signed up for a PR package with them. That package included an ad on their website, SEO assistance, product reviews, twitter and Facebook promotion and press assistance. I have absolutely LOVED working with Shara and her husband Rick. They are an amazing team, and signing up for a PR package with them has been the best decision I have made in my business thus far. When I compared advertising rates to have my logo placed on a few blogs, the cost was going to be the same as an entire year of PR and advertising with Mommy Perks. I felt that signing on with Shara was a better use of my money because there is no guarantee that anyone will ever click on your logo. With the PR package I know that my SEO is building daily, my company name and information is getting in the hands of my direct target audience and also that I have someone working behind the scenes to promote Freckles Crafts while I focus on making craft kits."
Rebecca Cousins
Founder/Owner
Freckles Crafts
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I find it so amazing that you support the people that support you. It tells me a lot about you! I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU for being who you are and for supporting small businesses the way you do through your time, effort and action ;)
Cindy Cheung
Founder/Owner
Kiokko Bebe Couture
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Mommy Perks is an indispensable resource for mompreneurs. Owner, Shara Lawrence-Weiss, provided invaluable insight and creative PR for Character Inc. Through the process, she enabled us to feel more than part of a client base - I felt like part of a family. I highly recommend working with Shara and Mommy Perks.
Julie Watson Smith
Founder/Owner
Character Inc
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Mommy Perks rocks when it comes to biz advice. Highly recommend. Worth every penny. Thanks Shara.
Jennifer Ascher
Owner/Founder
Organizing without Limits
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Thanks again for all of the hard work you are doing to promote Freckles Crafts. I really appreciate it! I feel so lucky to have found you. Who would have thought by doing a google search on "how to do Twitter" it would have changed my life in such a positive way. God works in some very mysterious ways! Or maybe it is just your really good SEO skills :-)
Rebecca Cousins
Owner/Founder
Freckles Crafts
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Dear Shara:
You and your website are very special. You have a high soicity website which is destined to be more. I've seen the way the moms run to you, and you light up their worries, you make those moms feel special again. Sometimes moms need that in life. I said, I had to be part of it too. That's why I signed up with you; you show so much love. I sent my most special Christmas Tapestry Throw to you, you're the only one that revived one, no one else. I sent the best of the best from my website. I wish to say so much thank you - you and your family are a blessing. Congratulations on your websites. A new home...You stay strong out there with the moms.
Sherry Jones
iMallshoppe.com
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Mommy Perks has not only boosted my sales, a couple of repeat customers and web views, but I have increased my network of friends, other mompreneurs to support and great ladies altogether! I love what it has done for me personally and for my business!
Tracy Bennett
Stella & Dot
Independent Stylist
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You are awesome. You are one of a kind when it comes to caring for people and their business.
Lisa Nicholson
Your Assistant Lisa (VA services)
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I found Mommy Perks on Twitter. I followed her because I noticed that she was helping all the WAHM. I especially love Shara's final thoughts of the day. But it was a few months later that I contacted Mommy Perks for PR services.
Unlike many services, Mommy Perks is so efficient in answering questions. Within 3 days, Gagagougou was on the PERKS Directory, had an advertising button done, was interviewed and had a review done. Talk about efficiency!!!
Mommy Perks really takes the time to go through my website, giving me suggestions on how to improve the website, going into details on the SEO and web designs, etc. I like the fact that Shara takes the time to go through my website, understanding my needs and understanding my business.
I'm only with Mommy Perks for about a week and already I have learned so much. I'm very glad that I have found them and hired them to do my PR. I look forward to learning more from Mommy Perks and I highly suggest the services to all WAHM.
Iris Wu
Owner/Founder
Gagagougou
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I did the shotgun approach for a long time, lots and lots of listings, thinking that that would get me more exposure, what it got me was lots of money spent and no real response to any of them. So in the spring I dumped them all except for a mom support group I am on which is great.... now I am thinking I want some place that does more than run an ad, who cares and me and my business and *gets* what I am trying to do who I can support and believe in and who supports me. Mommy Perks came to mind immediately. What you have built is truly amazing and I am thrilled to be a part of it!
Sherri-Lee Pressman
Owner/Founder
4 Kids Enterprizes / VA services
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The amazing amount of support Womentorz has received from Mommy Perks through online social networking has been unparalleled. Shara is a true pleasure to work with and has been impeccable with her follow through. I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking to increase their online presence.
Melinda Knight
Owner/Founder
Womentorz.com
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Reposted from a referral sharing website:
I make referrals as often as I can so I LOVE this! Today I'd like to make a referral to Shara at MommyPerks.com. She is amazing! She supports MANY small businesses and does an outstanding job getting the word out about all her advertisers...big and small! She has inspired me to share information about others as often as I can!
Mary Schreifels
It Works! (Weight management product)
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I think it was Facebook when I first came across Mommy Perks. There were a number of synergies between my business, Bing Note, and Mommy Perks. I thought it would be a good idea to speak to Shara to see if there were ways we could work together, so I contacted her. We had a phone conversation, and as soon as I hung up, I knew this was a woman who was hard-working, dedicated, intelligent, and had strong values. What was also inspiring about her was that she was a selfless woman who didn’t just think about herself, but strived to help others succeed. At that time, since I was not a client, I had very little expectations of her promoting Bing Note. Yet, I often found her posting various bits of information about Bing Note, driving traffic to the site.
A couple of months later, I became an official client of Mommy Perks. Since then, traffic to the Bing Note site has DOUBLED. Shara has numerous contacts and she is constantly promoting our products to others, networking, and spreading the word. I often ask her how she does it. She’s nonstop, works every day of the week, yet still does an awesome job caring for her family. And then, with her husband Rick being a Webmaster, she is able to offer assistance on websites. They make such a great team, without having you go broke.
With this said, I truly believe that becoming a client of Mommy Perks is the best advertising investment I’ve made. I’ve paid much more to advertising and PR agencies, with very little results. Mommy Perks will give you the results at a very affordable price. Kudos to Shara and Mommy Perks for helping small businesses succeed!
I have worked with Shara at Mommy Perks for the past 3 years in several business endeavors. She is an AMAZING writer and publishes her work in several prestigious publications. She also has a tremendous knowledge of the technical and promotional side of websites, SEO and social networking sites. She is always quick to respond to questions and concerns that I have had and she is thorough in her responses. I have never met anyone who is so quick to help out with networking, promoting a new business or throwing in "freebies" to her clients and friends. She has worked tirelessly to transform Mommy Perks to the successful site that it is today and in turn, has helped all of us that are associated with her. You can spend a lot of time looking and researching but, based on the knowledge I have, I KNOW you will not find a better deal with a more experienced public relations consultant than Shara and Mommy Perks.
Lisa Love
Co-founder/Co-owner
Bing Note
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"Shara takes the time to develop the relationship between Alpha Buddies and Mommy Perks. I truly appreciate the personal touch that she adds to helping me market my business.”
"I had about 5 sales come through with the Mommy Perks discount." (so far)
Soonie
Owner/Founder
Alpha Buddies (educational t-shirts)
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Mommy Perks helps mommies save money, solve problems, and grow their business so they can continue to be stay at home moms! The owner of Mommy Perks is a subscriber of mine and because of Mommy Perks and the awesome networking it provides I have gotten lots of new Coupon Sense subscribers through that affiliation! In fact, Mommy Perks featured me on the VIP Blog and I got a new customer within the first day of being featured!
Andrea Van Horn (Arizona)
Coupon Sense
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As a business owner I have found Mommy Perks to be a fantastic opportunity for exposure to moms and to other businesses. Every week I receive hits on my site from the mommyperks.com website helping me increase my customer base. Offering prizes for the giveaways and contests has also given me a great deal of very positive exposure. Most of all I enjoy the benefits and informative newsletters from Mommy Perks and the many perks available through the site.
Maureen Conlin
Owner/Founder
Happy Notes Music
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I just want to say how much I love Mommy Perks. Not only have I gotten sales from advertising, I have met lots of new friends throughout the United States. I am so glad I found this site.
Chrissy Miller
Tupperware
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As a new online business, I have to be very particular on where my precious, limited advertising dollars go. I was drawn to MommyPerks because they offer affordable advertising, were willing to work with my budget, and seemed to understand the financial stresses of startup businesses. They are very communicative and continue to make me feel important to their mission as well.
Tracyn
Owner/Founder
Kids Travel Happy
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I wanted to let you know how pleased I am that I started advertising with Mommy Perks. I have had my online store for more than a year and have tried so many different ways to drive traffic to the store without much success. Within a month after my ad was placed on Mommy Perks my online sales tripled. I was amazed!
My customers love the 10% discount they receive by being a Mommy Perks Member. When I send out my emails letting customers know that we have new arrivals I always remind them that if they are a Mommy Perks Member they can save even though the new items are not on sale. With the economy, being what it is these days, everyone loves a discount!
Karen Sullivan
PolkaDot Kids
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I have been a Mommy Perks member since I began my businesses in 2007. I have never met a group more passionate about helping others grow their business. The ladies at MP go the extra mile to help your business get the exposure it needs to expand. Even though I am not a "Mom," Shara and her team have been a very important part of my business and will continue to be so throughout 2009. I highly recommend joining the team and network they have created!
Gary Hillery
GreetingCookie.com
The Green Crusaders
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Mommy Perks is a great source for moms. The staff worked with me to help tailor my business advertising to fit the needs of my business. Thanks to MOMMY PERKS!!!!!
Moya Wilson
The Mom Team
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I was delighted to have stumbled upon Mommyperks.com about six months ago while looking for worthy websites that could help to promote my company, SIGNING FAMILIES. Since that time I have formed a great relationship with the owner of Mommyperks.com - Shara Lawrence-Weiss. My connections through Mommyperks.com have helped my own business to blossom as well as make new and supportive friends. I especially value the new relationship I have established with Shara as we often help each other by exchanging ideas, supplying networking leads and most of all supporting each other through the ebb and flow of this tough economy.
I recently asked Shara to create through Personal Child Stories a very special book for my best friends' five year old daughter, Kelsey. I wanted the book to be unique and I made the request to make it tri-lingual. Shara delivered by creating an ABC book in English, Spanish and Sign Language. Kelsey's response was beyond ecstatic and it is a joy to know that she uses this book daily to practice her reading skills.
I also have been able through MommyPerks.com to find other businesses and share information within my own Maryland network of friends about companies that advertise and connect through the Mommyperks.com league of companies! I look forward to the day when the "perks system" for Mommy Perks can be used locally in Maryland.
Bravo to Mommyperks.com for filling a niche that was most needed. Quality, integrity, support and sincerity is what you will find at this website!
Louise Sattler
Owner/Founder
SIGNING FAMILIES
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