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more successful in your online presence, however, find the avatar that works for you, and stick with it until it no longer represents your brand at all - in other words...until your current brand dies, and a new brand rises from the ashes like a phoenix.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

In the Face of Uncertainty

Stay True.

The start of the new decade has not brought the uplifting promise I thought it would. Tragedies in the world, continuing health care challenges and economic uncertainty all seem to bring happiness to a halt. Happiness is . . . well, that is another subject. This is business.

MommyLoves to Chat has been silent this past summer. We have been clinging as best we could to the slippery sides of this current worldwide economic colander. The economy has always represented a colander to me, but now the drainage holes are much larger and there are many more of them, so that it looks more like a very thin cheese cloth with huge holes than a colander.

Yes, I love to cook.

Cheese cloth or colander, it doesn't matter when faced with day to day operations and the way we do business. We don't change our philosophy. We don't change the way we treat our customers. We don't change the quality of our products. When we lose a vendor, admittedly, it is hard to find another of the same quality, but it ultimately works out. When a wholesale customer goes out of business - that one is much more tricky, however we gain more retail business online. Our customers still tell the difference between our products and those of our competition, and our customers still talk to their friends about us. Buying is still personal.

There are many factors that determine whether or not a company stays in business, and stays larger and more solid than the holes in the colander. Integrity and Flexibility are probably the most important. Integrity can't be taught, it must be chosen. Social Media represents flexibility AND integrity to me. The more a company can get its message out to possible customers, the more successful it will become.

Social Media, for many people, is just a many headed gossip column. I won't let MommyLoves simply advertise to our followers in our Facebook page and Twitter feed, and try to hook followers and customers with the celebrities who have enjoyed our products. I want to impart our philosophy, integrity and quality to our current and potential customers, and let our products and customers speak for themselves.

In the face of uncertainty there is fear, yes. Fear then compounds the uncertainty. I must admit that I have cut back on many things because of the fear of slipping through one of those holes, and being sucked down the drain. But, fear will never penetrate my integrity.

What about you?

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