Tasty Clouds Cotton Candy Company Read the judges' comments at their profile

Runner Up Blue Orchid Handbags Read the judges' comments at their profile

Other top ten winners

• Sweetsation Therapy
• Cake 'n Crumbs
• Resumes By Joyce
• PhotoEnrichment Programs
• Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry Products
• LTDchix, LLC
• Moving Forward
• DivaGirl

How to Be Popular and Win Votes Online

What do you get when mix pregnancy cravings, a driven mom-to-be and an unfulfilled market? You get Tasty Clouds Cotton Candy Co. But then what do you get when you combine that tasty cotton candy with social media and a global following? You get more than 70,000 votes and the No. 1 spot in the 2009 StartupNation Home-Based 100 “Highest Vote-Getters” category.

Even though Tasty Clouds founder Nina Rodecker only started her home business last year when she couldn’t find any cotton candy makers in her city of Los Angeles, she’s no amateur when it comes to promoting her company. She proved that earlier this year when she came in third place for highest votes in our 2009 Leading Moms in Business contest. And it’s clear she’s only gotten better at the art and science of being popular on the web: Rodecker amassed a whopping 71,329 votes for her home business in three months. That’s a lot of devoted fans, coming back daily to vote for her!

Sure, cotton candy is delicious, but there’s more to it than just having a great product—and that goes for having a successful company, too. Rodecker stresses the importance of being proactive and working hard to have the best product, best service and best face for your company. She also says it’s important to “be happy with what you do, and always be grateful to those who support you.”

So, you want to know how she did it? How you can be popular online, too? Perhaps win a Top Ten in a vote-driven contest? Here are her vote-getting tips:

• Talk about your business. Whether it’s to friends and family or simply people she meets on the street, Rodecker is always talking about her home business. “You are the best representative of your company,” she says. “Any connections I make I ask them to vote for me.”
• Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family. Those closest to you naturally want to see you succeed, so it’s ok to ask them for help. From the U.S. to Europe to the Philippines, “I have family all over the world who voted every day,” Rodecker admits.
• Reach out to your existing customers. If you’re providing the best service or the best product to your customers, they’ll be more than happy to help you out, whether it’s voting for your company, telling their friends about it or both. Rodecker asked all her customers—from weddings, birthday parties, fundraisers and more—to vote for her home business.
• Send a personal message. Rodecker says simply e-mailing a personal message and regular reminders to fans, customers, friends and family got her the most votes. “Reaching out with a personal message makes people feel more connected to me and my home business,” she says. “Instead of them thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just a Facebook thing.’”
• Use social media. While people always prefer the personal touch, you can’t pass up the massive potential of social media like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. Everyone these days seems to be present in social media, making it one of the best—and cheapest—ways to connect to your customers. Tasty Cloud has nearly 300 fans on Facebook.