I Lost You!

I hate it when I lose you! When I check Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, etc., and I don't see the avatar of my favorite contributors, I get a little panicky!

First rule of writing, blogging, social media chatting...DON'T CHANGE YOUR AVATAR ONCE YOU'VE ESTABLISHED AN AUDIENCE! It makes me a little crazy, and since I'm a functioning member of society with only a few neurotic peccadillos, I don't think it's just me. One of my favorite tweeters and Google+'ers has recently changed his avatar...an avatar that was very eye-catching, and now I can't find him with a quick review of my Twitter Stream. It only took me about a week to stop looking for him, and since my email is already the equivalent of the Autobahn, I'm not going back to his website, and signing up for email notifications of his posts! (No, I don't use lists...I use the Twitter Lottery - whoever is posting when I check Twitter won the 'MKJ saw your post' Lottery!)

I've Lost Him.

More importantly, He Lost Me! Just think of your favorite soda (okay, I'm showing my California accent...pop, if you will). What would you do if you were looking for a Pepsi, and couldn't find that familiar blue can anywhere, and your 2 yo was screaming in your ear, while pulling a clump of hair out right above that ringing ear? You'd just choose something else, or leave screaming yourself, right?!

One of my favorite Dad Bloggers recently asked his audience if they thought he should change his avatar since his daughter is now three (probably going on thirteen, because she told him to shave his beard), and the baby feet in his picture aren't current. I said very clearly, and as loudly as my ALL CAPS could get...NOOOOOOO!

Thank Goodness Michael Schmid of A Daddy Blog heard the outcry, and kept his baby and daddy feet avatar. He added some new pic's of his little girl (darling btw) to his homepage logo, google+ bar, and the like, but when I look for his Tweets, I find him, and feel safe and secure that the world is still orbiting the sun, and the dinosaurs are still extinct.

When you are first starting out, change away. Before you become more successful in your online presence, however, find the avatar that works for you, and stick with it until it no longer represents your brand at all - in other words...until your current brand dies, and a new brand rises from the ashes like a phoenix.

(Ladies who dye their hair, listen up...this also goes for suddenly going brunette when your avatar picture has always been blond!)

Anyone else feel strongly about their favorite people changing their brand image? Please share!

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!