Something for Nothing

By Melissa Coffey
Diaper Decisions

In our last Tips from the Trenches, we talked about how important first impressions are to your business. Now we will talk about professional business promotion, the second impression you will leave on potential customers.

There are now many options in business promotion. Some cost a little, some cost a lot and sometimes you will run across something offered for free! Free is good right? Not necessarily. You can get free generic looking business cards sent to your home and it may seem like a good deal until you flip it over and see the printer’s advertising on the back. What this says about your business is that you are either too cheap to promote yourself with a nice looking business card, or worse, that your business is not even bringing in enough money to afford a small printing of your card. (You can even have a business card template designed at Diaper Decisions and print them at home!)

Another option we have run across recently is a free brochure you can “customize” with your business information. Diaper Decisions created the original customized brochure for the very reason that we believe your business should stand alone in its promotion. The free brochure, correctly labeled generic, is priced right, but what will it do for your business? Your business name will be displayed, but it’s going to compete with another business wanting the attention of the consumer… The business offering the “free brochure.” In this instance, you will be advertising for a place that is essentially a warehouse for other WAHMs to promote their business. You have just caused yourself to greatly reduce the chances of making a sale from this promotion. You have spent the money on paper and ink and the time on folding and preparing your presentation, but who are you really promoting? Sadly enough, it is not yourself. This is a marketing gimmick that some use to promote themselves at the expense of other WAHMs. It is not just a “good will gesture” to help your business. Something free is very rarely without cost.

At Diaper Decisions, we believe in every business’ ability to be successful. If you have the desire and willingness to work hard, you CAN do it! You do not need cheap advertising, you do not need to jump on the nearest bandwagon, and you do not need to push your business into the background while promoting your products! Cooperative promotion is great! But YOU should call the shots as to who you will promote while promoting yourself! We have created a program called WAHM Buddies that is exactly that! If you have the goodwill to participate in promoting other WAHMS (that YOU pick) wonderful! But you can also choose to stand alone in your business promotion. As a business owner, you should say who, what, when, where and why you will lend your voice to promoting someone other than yourself.

The WAHM world is great! There are so many wonderful parents out there, with extraordinary products and customer service. This is the majority of who you will find in your WAHM dealings. But beware the opportunists that will look for any opportunity to make themselves look good at your expense. Count the costs of free, cheap and easy. It’s rarely worth it!