Mind Your Own Business!
Written by Melissa Coffey
Upon entering into the cloth diaper world, I was amazed to discover such an established little underground of who was who and what was what. There are communities to be rated, communities to be berated and communities to complain about both. It's definitely a world where you fall into caring what people think, even if that's not usually your style. People you never see, but that you know must exist, because they are out there typing somewhere in the wild blue yonder. And as you wander through site, after site you start to realize, there are A LOT of cloth diaper moms. Our yahoo group alone has over 200 members. With THAT many people, how could you possibly compete? Well, you can't. Just as you can't wander into a community festival and set up a booth selling cloth diapers if everyone else there is doing the same, you can't just set up a website and expect to receive order after order.
I see a frightening amount of discouragement in the WAHM community when the tiniest thing goes wrong. Someone doesn't like you for whatever reason or someone complains about a product. I have seen people shut down, or even just admit that they've considered it. If we were working at Wal-Mart or Taco Bell, would we really expect not to run into a rude customer, or someone who wanted the impossible? It happens. It has always happened, and if you are in business long enough, it's going to happen to you. Why is it treated with such dismay? As if the one customer can make or break your business? Well, if you are planning on building your business only in the cyber world, one bad mouthy customer can ruin it for you. Word on the net spreads fast, and unfortunately a great deal of people will go on the word of the customer. Sides get taken and you feel like giving up. So someone 150 miles (or even 1500 miles) away has something bad to say about you or your products...what do you do? MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! This does not mean what it meant when your older brother or sister screamed it at you in your youth. What I mean, is take care of your own business. If you have a problem, fix it. And then look around you. How many people in your community cloth diaper? Does your neighbor? Your best friend? If you truly want an exceptional business, you HAVE to reach out to the people around you and let them know what you have to offer. Don't rely on internet business. Your local customers couldn't care less if you have a Bad Apple review. They don't even know what that is. This is what matters. Local business will get you where you want to go! And if cloth diapering really is your passion, then reach out to those who don't even know it's an option! Don't compete with people on the internet for customers already looking for cloth. You need to sell it to those who don't know your diapers exist!
What do you do with the complaints if you've received any? Consider them. Is there truth to it? It does you no good to get online and post about it, only to have your feelings soothed for a short amount of time. Be honest with yourself. Is there really a problem? How would I feel if I were in my customer's place? Mind your business. Take care of it. Take care of your problems, take care of your customers and take care of you. If you have done all you can, drop it, move on and just do your best with your next customer.
We aren't going to change anyones mind about cloth diapers by marketing ourselves to those already looking. We can't just prove ourselves better than the search engine results higher than our own. We have to reach out, make a business for ourselves locally and carve a niche for ourselves in our local community. That is what is real. That is minding our own business.
Upon entering into the cloth diaper world, I was amazed to discover such an established little underground of who was who and what was what. There are communities to be rated, communities to be berated and communities to complain about both. It's definitely a world where you fall into caring what people think, even if that's not usually your style. People you never see, but that you know must exist, because they are out there typing somewhere in the wild blue yonder. And as you wander through site, after site you start to realize, there are A LOT of cloth diaper moms. Our yahoo group alone has over 200 members. With THAT many people, how could you possibly compete? Well, you can't. Just as you can't wander into a community festival and set up a booth selling cloth diapers if everyone else there is doing the same, you can't just set up a website and expect to receive order after order.
I see a frightening amount of discouragement in the WAHM community when the tiniest thing goes wrong. Someone doesn't like you for whatever reason or someone complains about a product. I have seen people shut down, or even just admit that they've considered it. If we were working at Wal-Mart or Taco Bell, would we really expect not to run into a rude customer, or someone who wanted the impossible? It happens. It has always happened, and if you are in business long enough, it's going to happen to you. Why is it treated with such dismay? As if the one customer can make or break your business? Well, if you are planning on building your business only in the cyber world, one bad mouthy customer can ruin it for you. Word on the net spreads fast, and unfortunately a great deal of people will go on the word of the customer. Sides get taken and you feel like giving up. So someone 150 miles (or even 1500 miles) away has something bad to say about you or your products...what do you do? MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! This does not mean what it meant when your older brother or sister screamed it at you in your youth. What I mean, is take care of your own business. If you have a problem, fix it. And then look around you. How many people in your community cloth diaper? Does your neighbor? Your best friend? If you truly want an exceptional business, you HAVE to reach out to the people around you and let them know what you have to offer. Don't rely on internet business. Your local customers couldn't care less if you have a Bad Apple review. They don't even know what that is. This is what matters. Local business will get you where you want to go! And if cloth diapering really is your passion, then reach out to those who don't even know it's an option! Don't compete with people on the internet for customers already looking for cloth. You need to sell it to those who don't know your diapers exist!
What do you do with the complaints if you've received any? Consider them. Is there truth to it? It does you no good to get online and post about it, only to have your feelings soothed for a short amount of time. Be honest with yourself. Is there really a problem? How would I feel if I were in my customer's place? Mind your business. Take care of it. Take care of your problems, take care of your customers and take care of you. If you have done all you can, drop it, move on and just do your best with your next customer.
We aren't going to change anyones mind about cloth diapers by marketing ourselves to those already looking. We can't just prove ourselves better than the search engine results higher than our own. We have to reach out, make a business for ourselves locally and carve a niche for ourselves in our local community. That is what is real. That is minding our own business.
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