Does a Nice Guy Always Finish Last?

by Melissa Coffey

It was definitely a risk. Sending a diaper off to someone who claimed they were sewing their own and just wanted to make sure theirs was right. She DID say she had no intentions of going into business for herself, but still the warning emails came. "Don't do it, she's just trying to steal your design...I wouldn't do that, she just going to tear it apart and use your pattern..." Wonder how this will play out, she thought?

1 year later, Diaper Decisions opened for business! How does this connect?

Susie was the diaper maker, Melissa was the first time diaper seamstress. Although it might have gone the other way, it did not. I decided I really loved cloth diapering, but not sewing them...and had Susie sew a whole stash for me! She also put me in touch with another one of her favorite diaper Moms, Shannon of Green Acre Designs, who also ended up contributing to the diaper stash at my home. How did all this happen? Susie showed me kindness, without taking the time to worry about the what-ifs.

Susie, who is co-owner of Cloth-Diaper-Biz, rarely talks about her own diaper business Lucy Luvs, but it has grown it by leaps and bounds with one quality...kindness. She emailed once and said it's amazing how people miss the marketing opportunities available by just being the "nice guy." She has done hundreds of dollars in business in the past two months just by showing people kindness. A lone post about someone wanting to trade diapers for a sling or diaper bag went unnoticed on one of the diaper message boards. Susie answered it. Did she need a sling or a diaper bag? No, not really, but she did want to see this person switch cloth and agreed to trade items. The trade gal cleaned out her seconds and then had her parents purchase $100 worth of items FOR her from the store!

Locally, Susie has converted 5 people in the past 5 months. She did it neither by nagging, or bragging. She just walks the talk. Her daughter always wears a cloth diaper in public and people ask questions about the "cute diaper cover." Most of her new customers have had the same first reaction "ewwww...not me!" But as they see her again, and again, cloth starts looking a little better each time. After all, if she's still using cloth, it can't be THAT bad? Susie answers questions with a smile and with the compassion she knows she must have when people first start noticing cloth for the first time!

You can't fake kindness. You can't fake loving to cloth diaper. And you can't fake understanding apprehension about using cloth diapers. It has to come naturally. You can't just want the sale; you have to believe that cloth is a really good option for babies and parents, no matter what the circumstances. And this doesn't mean lowering your prices so they can buy a whole stash from you. It starts by telling them how YOU started: How YOU afforded it, got used to cleaning them, started using cloth on the go.

Being a woman in today's society, and especially being a business owner, we tend to think we must always look for ways to promote ourselves and always watch out for those trying to take advantage of us. After Susie and I became business partners, we really started to see that being the nice guy doesn't guarantee you'll come in last. Being kind to someone just opens door after door for you in your business and your life. Owning a cloth diapering business, or another natural parenting business is completely different than any other business out there. It started out of the care and compassion for something or someone besides ourselves. Keeping that the focus is a wonderful way to do business! You may not end up a millionaire and you may not be the most popular diaper business out there. What you will end up with are customers who love doing business with you, who recommend you above anyone else and you may just end up with a new best friend!

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.