Thems who run businesses

[Flamesparrow]

What do you do for advertising?

Just trying to get a few ideas!

my business is totally diff to yours- i rely on word of mouth, online stuff i wouldn't have a clue- but as you are a nappy-head what about your council have you spoken to the person in charge of the real nappy project? we've just put in a tender to run the campaign so that will bring a lot of business to us! might be worth a try.

@ our council and the real nappy project!

I keep hassling them

Frined of mine has done a book for mums with different sections in for differrnt products, The summer one has gone to print now but she will be doing another one in the Autumn and has a large distrubution. Have you tried asking if you can give information out at antenatal meetings? Can talk to my midwife here if she will distribute info for you, and of course there is the internet.

I need to get sorted with the antenatal groups

I have an advert going in the local distribution of Babygroe and am intrigued to see how much that brings in.

get a leaflet/card, contact major employers, especially public sector ones, and see if you can get your flyer/card added into any info pack they sen dout to pregnant employees.
I work in NHS and and local Trusts here have a pack they send out which includes stuff about mat leave, childcare etc - worth a try?

website

registered on Doula UK , is there a nappy agent equivalent? nationwide register thingy?

did article for local NCT mag

did publicity event at local hospital and school

hand out business cards to anyone who looks even remotely interested when it comes up in conversation

got involved with local MSLC, met HVs and midwives who have taken my details

when DD is established with new child minder, going to spend some time doing letters and stuff for breast feeding clinics, antenatal clinics etc

Do you sell nationally or locally? For people like me who don't know what you do, can you tell us a bit more?

Flamesparrow I was sophiewd and coming along to mile for maude if there is anything you want me to do from my end then let me know

Likin lots of these ideas...

How do you go about local NCT article (do you need to be an NCT member and if so how much is it? ).

What is MSLC?

I like the packs idea lots too.

Argh! Was meant to have sorted leaflets for a sale on Saturday... gonna have to design one tonight and get it done off tomorrow - is black and white going to look reeeeeeeeeally naff?

J&J - I run a cloth nappy website and do demos and sales locally too - so a bit of both

QoB - You're coming to the Bournemouth MFM or the big picnic? Disturbingly excited about both.

i am a member, i think i pay £2 per month or something,

i was already in the NCT and emailed the woman who does the newsletter, saying wanted to do a piece for her about doulas! you could get in touch with your local branch by email, and ask to write a piece..

Maternity services liasion committee.....anyone with an interest or a need to use the maternity services can go along..i was invited by a friend who works at the hospital...but you could contact your hospital to find out when your is ....they are usually quarterly..

If they ar on the same day then we (dd and me) are coming for the day and leaving dh with B&B breaj=kfasts and dodgy dog

DP is in a totally different line of work. BUt we have a small village 'directory' issued each month to all addresses in our village. It is basically a little A5 book of about 40 pages of ads. We have found that this has by far been the best for us.

NOW JUST KEEP STILL

By far the best for me has been sending out 'press releases' (when I started my business last year, I didn't know they were called that, and sent out 'letters' )
What totally kicked things off for me was a piece in the Sunday Express mag. parenting pages...and I just sent off a letter and a sample of my idea. The Baby Feed Wheels were mentioned in Pregnancy and Birth and Practical Parenting, again by sending out letters and samples.

Paid advertising seems to be very much a hit and miss affair!

DOn't know where you live but try your local paper (or papers, especially if there are freesheets). They are usually desperate for stuff to fill their pages with, and anything along the lines of Local Woman's Nappy And She Knows It will make their day...

Go for a local publicity stunt. Do you have any figures on how many disposables are thrown out in your area each week? if you can get your hands on some figures - try to create a photograph that depicts the volume - something that grabs people attention.

Then send it out to the local papers saying that this is how much nappy waste goes out in your area each week. If the local council are being rubbish about introducing real nappy schemes - why not take it to the man. Tell the press you think they should be doing more.

Call your local radio station and talk to them about the issue. Shame Real Nappy week has come and gone - but you could use the angle: it's been two/three months (depending on when you do this) since Real Nappy Week - so has anything changed in xx area. Then run through all the bullets about why cloth is better etc.

Target any of your local parenting magazines - like Families, ABC, Grapevine etc - with a 'Cloth nappies for dummies' guide, explaining exactly what they'd need to get started, the expected costs, how they can save money, the different types of nappies/wraps to consider. Position yourself at THE local expert.

Definitely tie up with any local mum and baby groups - or approach the local health visitors/midwives and ask if you can join their parentcraft classes to talk about cloth nappies as a guest. Do the same for the NCT.

You are all stars - I have sooo much to get to work on