Time is . . .

Yes, we have all heard, and probably lived by the saying, 'Time is Money'. If you are a business owner, or manager, you certainly hope your employees and vendors live by it, but how can you be sure with this wonderful thing called the internet?

I am constantly amazed when I check the site stats of MommyLoves.com and I see all the visitors (both unique and repeat) browsing our site at work. State organizations, Federal organizations (including the Pentagon) and Fortune 500 companies all have employees visiting and buying from MommyLoves.com - a maternity and family novelty apparel company. I can almost guarantee that our site is not a matter of National Security - there was that one time that someone from Canada wanted to buy wholesale products from us for a supposed store in Iran for delivery on the anniversary of 9/11 in 2006, but that was "Kiss My Bump", not the "TwoPeas" design purchased by someone at the Pentagon. One of our competitors, by the way, had no qualms filling that order, while we called the FBI and said 'No Thank You' to the business on principle alone. Two weeks later, suspected Al Qaeda members were arrested in Qatar with 10 lbs. of explosives and maternity clothing . . . at least it wasn't ours!

Anyway, you are reading this, so I will give you more than your money's worth - unless your employees give you reason to doubt their judgement, trust that they are searching on your behalf, and that their searches and purchases will benefit your business. If you don't, our business will suffer, so Thank You!

Here's to another successful year coming to an end, and another wildly wonderful one being born ~

See you in the next decade.

Holiday Madness!

The Holiday Madness has begun!

It is very hard to resist buying everything you see for your baby's first holiday! Once your little bundle turns 5 and your house is bursting with legos or doll clothes, and never played with toys, you no longer have that urge to 'pick up just one more thing' - that's what Grandparents are for. Those very same Grandparents are probably the ones who continued the toy gluttony that got you into this mess, literally! Raising the Grandparents takes the same skill set as raising your munchkin - patience and consistency. My In-Laws are of the mindset that if they don't buy everything my boys want, my boys won't love them.

At least that is what it seems?! Luckily, I had a glimpse of my toy-related future when my first born was about a year old. Sitting up and interacting with his environment was the signal for Grandma and Grandpa to buy every supposedly fun toy on the market! That Christmas when my son was 16 months old was the worst of my life! Really! He had a meltdown after the third present. Then dad had a meltdown, then it was my turn. After our nap, we put away the rest of the unopened presents for another day. We actually dolled them out, one a month until they were gone. The more difficult task was dealing with the culprits in this caper - the Grandparents.

We laid down the law that they could give only TWO presents per holiday - including birthdays. The first holiday we got, "We forgot!" The second holiday we got, "We couldn't resist, look how much he loves them!" Then I got nasty. I told the smothering, aged children that if they did not keep to the two present limit, they would not be allowed to give any more presents for the next two years, and if they still tried to give presents, I would confiscate them and burn them no matter how much my soon-to-be spoiled brat son cried! That finally hit home, because they know me too well, and they kept to the limit. That is until Little Brother came along.

Needless to say, I have had to be vigilant at my post every holiday for the past 11 years - yes my oldest just turned 11, and those pesky, wannabe rebellious teenagers I call In-Laws have given me my best preparation for Middle School. MIDDLE SCHOOL! How the hell did I get here again?!

Supporting Strong Women

We have all had adversity in our lives. I have never met a woman (or man for that matter, but they don't talk about it as much as we females) who had perfect parents or perfect health or perfect childhood memories or perfect children. Some of us have more adversity to overcome than others, of course, and we all deal with it in our own ways.

Yesterday, I had the chance to reconnect with a friend and local networking buddy. I found out she has breast cancer, and just had a lumpectomy. This hit very close to home of course with my recent encounter with this disease through my mother-in-law, and I must admit that I am scared for my friend. Cynthia is young . . . a little younger than me in fact and I'm on the backside of my 40's. She has two young girls, and lots of friends and support. At night, however, she still has to sit with her own thoughts and fears for her life and the lives of her children. I can't help but put myself in her shoes and feel fear, but at the same time strength and resolve.

There are countless organizations supporting every disease known to mankind, and there are also countless organizations supporting women and their children. Cynthia and her amazing friends have decided to start a non-profit organization supporting other strong women who are celebrating their lives while battling disease, and they have kindly asked me to take part in my own small way. I am extremely honored, and will devote my time in honor of Jean Johnson, my mother-in-law. Jean went well beyond her given title in my life - she treated me as her own daughter, and that made all the difference in my life, and the lives of my sons. Please keep watch and visit often for the details as they unfold, and we start promoting this amazing new organization. We all need and give support.

What strong woman needs your added strength today? Is it you? Then just ask.

MommyLoves . . . everything you send me, apparently.

Many companies have now found the very effective, inexpensive, targeted advertising programs on the internet . . . bloggers. MommyLoves has received countless requests for product submissions from, specifically, Mommy Bloggers. The request usually goes something like this:

"Hi, I'm . . . and I have a blog called . . . and have been blogging for . . . I have . . . followers, and I found your site, and love your products, and feel they would be perfect for my followers. I would love to do a review of your products if you will send me a . . . design in size . . . and I can do a review about how wonderful your products are."

Now, I love flattery like the next gal, but I know a pitch for free stuff even when it's coated with honey and dropped in my inbox. I have sent lots of free merchandise to blog requests, and enjoyed the benefits of increased traffic and even a few orders. I am careful, however to review the blogs beforehand, and ensure that they are not simply "review mills" that turn out reviews like breeders turn out puppies. A MommyLoves product would just become one more tree in the forest of reviews on those sites, so I look for blogs that actually have content and discussions other than reviews. I am still sending free stuff, but I ensure that the content and tone of the blog reflects that of MommyLoves. Hopefully, by doing this, I am also supporting bloggers and their followers who can think for themselves. I haven't had a bad review yet for MommyLoves products, and I will continue to tell myself that this is because we have such wonderful products, not simply because the reviewer got free stuff. This article in The New York Times says it all.

I remember well my shock when I first started MommyLoves in 2003, and interviewed a self-employed Marketing person intent on becoming a MommyLoves vendor who suggested that I hire Stay At Home Moms (SAHM's) to just visit chat rooms and tout my products without ever having worn one. Did the light bulb just go on over some of your heads? Say it isn't so?! This Marketing person also told me that all the "big" companies do this all the time when they want to promote a new product. I'm glad I can truthfully say that size does not matter to me that much.

In essence, we can go back to the good old rule of "don't believe everything you read." I still trust the friends, family and neighbors whose facial expressions I see regularly much more than some witty, trendy cyber-typer who drops into my computer daily with supposed reviews and recommendations. I can "x-out" of one, and only wish sometimes that I could "x-out" of the other.

Do you buy based on ads?

I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged. Too much has happened since April, and blogging was the last thing I needed to do. Unfortunately, we lost Grandma in September to Breast Cancer. Grandma (aka my wonderful Mother-in-Law of 30 years) had a Mastectomy in April, and was undergoing low dose chemo when tumors grew on her spine.

Don't talk to me about Health Care unless you want to see steam come out my ears!

What's up with all the T.V. ads for drugs? I mean Pharmaceuticals, of course! Since around February, 2009, I have been noticing a change in T.V. ads. How many people are taking drugs for their Liver, Prostate and ED to name a few that allows Pharmaceutical Companies to make money buying T.V. ads? I mean, these drugs can't be bought over the counter. People need to see the ad on T.V., then either make an appt. with their Doctor, or wait until their shortly thereafter regularly scheduled Doctor appt., and specifically ask their Doctor for that particular drug. How many people visit their Doctor on a regular basis? I know that Grandma was visiting the Doctor (several Doctors in fact) every week almost since April, but unless you are currently being treated for a life-threatening disease, why would you visit your Doctor regularly enough to request some of the drugs being advertised on T.V.?

This thought process then led me to think about advertising in general. I mean, do you actually brush your teeth with Colgate Total because Brooke Shields claims to on T.V.? Would you join Jenny Craig because of the success of Valerie Bertinelli, or stay away from Jenny Craig because of the lack of long term success of Kirstie Alley? (I worked for Jenny Craig for about six years right after I left college, but that is another story . . . )

Luckily MommyLoves has had to do very little advertising to stay in business and grow. We have purchase three half page ads in pregnancy related magazines in our nearly seven years in business, and we're still kickin'. These ads were directly targeted for specific holidays to promote our holiday maternity designs. Our growth and popularity long term rely not on advertising, but on networking and marketing. I would trust my girlfriend's recommendations over Brooke Shields' any day, and millions of women agree with me! Hence the popularity of blogging, which is another way MommyLoves has grown. Satisfied customers blogging about our products.

Why then do companies advertise?

Do you buy based on ads?

I will listen to an ad only if I see a new product or service that interests me. I won't buy it based on the advertising, I will ask around and do some research first. So, I guess advertising is profitable for a company when they release a new product or service? So, I guess we come back to the drugs. Are there that many people taking prescription drugs that the Pharmaceutical Companies need to compete with general market ads? More importantly, are all those people driving? I hope they aren't driving while on Viagra or Cialis . . . that could be dangerous.

Those Bootstraps still work!

With the Holiday Season finally in the distance of our rear view mirror, I am no longer using that dirty word "Economy". In the recent times of easy money and going public, many small businesses forgot some of the fundamentals of pulling themselves up by the "bootstraps". Here are a few things that are helping us survive and hopefully thrive during any economic time.

1. A simple thing like printing your own business cards on "clean edge" cards can save lots of time and money, AND you can change things "on a dime" as your business changes. I mean really, how many business cards do you hand out these days? If you are going to an event, print up a bunch, otherwise just have about 20 on hand at all times. You can do the same with letterhead. Have a master letter template with your letterhead/logo saved on each desktop, and you can print whatever correspondence you need without having to put in special paper. Most correspondence is done via email/LinkedIn/Twitter/FaceBook anyway.

2. Do you really need a Webmaster who is the only one capable of updating your website? Okay, if you are Target, maybe so, but anyone who can create a word document that includes a picture can create a website these days. Use one of the drag-and-drop software programs available. I personally use Homestead.com. With both MommyLoves.com and SayBump.com we have over 200 items for sale, and I and my team have created and continue to update every one. Okay, there is one catch - TIME! Even this we can handle with one late night every six months at most. With that dirty word I mentioned above, we all have a little extra time, even though we are a little panicked at what we should be doing to increase sales.

3. Advertising vs. Marketing. The age old debate. I have tried both. They both work, but one has long term results, and one is only as good as your last ad. Oops, kinda gave it away. I have a very good friend - someone I have never met in person - who has taught me a lot about Marketing, and better yet, has done an amazing Marketing job for my company. The Marketing groundwork Laurie Wing of ParentBlast.com created for MommyLoves starting two years ago is helping us stay alive and well during these difficult times. We receive requests for samples from bloggers every week. The blogs that have decent traffic get a sample, and the write-up always increases our traffic and sales. We have received requests from television shows to provide samples for their audience during a taping. Again, increases in traffic and sales, AND more blog requests. The buzz on social networks mentions MommyLoves at least once a month, and we always receive a boost in traffic, and more importantly orders during this time. We also use Constant Contact to keep former customers coming back through our offer of a special discount, or just imparting fun ideas to harried Moms and Dads. As long as people keep talking about you, especially on this amazing world wide web, people can buy from you. Just make sure you have the best product/service going so they actually have something to talk about. I have spent more money on a few ads than I have spent on all my Marketing. The only thing is, you have to be very specific and very patient! One caution - use a small marketing firm that focuses only on you. Don't buy into a group campaign. Your chances are very slim that you will get noticed, or even get anyone to return your phone calls.

4. Use other small business resources. MommyLoves does not have any employees. MommyLoves has only vendors. We support our local businesses - both geographical and internet. We do business with small businesses from South Carolina to New Jersey to Australia, and we take advantage of the talent in our own backyard by giving work to other Moms and Dads we know.

Now, I know that most of the things I mention above will affect other small businesses like web developers and the like, but there will always be companies that cannot do what we do. Look around you, and see what you can save. Who knows, maybe I will become a web developer in my next career life with my new skill at SEO. Oh yeah, we haven't paid for SEO either. We just keep our website fresh, and were the first on the internet for our keywords, so we are always in the top 5 if not #1.

Hope those boots stay up!

Mary

Are you the owner?

I recently had a customer ask me during a phone conversation if I was the "owner".  "Yes," I replied, "Why do you ask?"

She told me that I "sounded like an owner".  This made me stop and think.

The structure I have created for MommyLoves is very different from the average American small business.  Everyone who works for MommyLoves does so in their own office.  Everyone who works for MommyLoves is self employed.  Everyone who works for MommyLoves is an "owner".

How can we do this you ask?  Well, we hire other businesses to do work for us.  Tina does our graphic design, Laurie does our PR, Angie does our alterations, Annette does our phone work for sales, Lisa makes our diaper bags - just to name a few.  We have people who can help us in our production office during peak seasons, and all these people reside in my neighborhood and across our country.

I created this business when my sons were 18 months and 4 years old, and my goal was to be able to run my business while I stayed home and raised my sons.  It seemed like an insurmountable task trying to design and manufacture clothing in my home office, but I had learned when my second son was born that I could do anything!  (More on that in another blog.)  I never wanted to go to an office away from home, and be in some meeting when my kids got home from school.  Having employees come to my home every day for their jobs would not be feasible, so my solution was to hire other like-minded self-employed people.  With all the technology we have available, those people can be anywhere in the world.

You see it in T.V. commercials, you see it in chat rooms, you see it in blogs - people in their home offices or spare bedrooms conducting business around the world.  Right here in Northern California, in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, MommyLoves has received orders from such faraway places as The Northern Territories of Canada, Malta and Norway.  My kids get a geography lesson with each new order, and each new order comes right here to my little Mac.   The order then goes across the country to be filled, or stays right here for my UPS driver to pick up.  Either way, an "owner" has filled it.  No one who works for MommyLoves simply puts in a day at the office doing a job!  We all go way beyond that.  Our days are more like "split shifts" where we work maybe 6 hours, then pick up the kids from school or meet them at the bus stop, then get them a snack while they do their homework, then make dinner, then work a few hours more before going to bed.  I can email Tina, Laurie or Angie at midnight, and I usually get an answer back at 12:01 a.m.

Now, I know many businesses like Restaurants or Grocery Stores cannot operate this way, but many others can.    This is not the future of the American Workforce.  This IS the American Workforce.  Wherever you work, can you honestly say you "sound like an owner"?  If not, the customer can hear it and may take their business elsewhere, and in these economic times we all know what happens next!