Welcome, 2012!

I know that it has been almost two weeks since I’ve made an appearance and updated the blog. I appreciate your understanding while I took some much needed time off to spend with my family during the holidays. I trust that you and yours also had a wonderful holiday season.

It’s no surprise that we’re cooking up a ton of great new ideas for 2012 here at Market Mommy. We would LOVE it if you were a part of our plans. In the coming weeks, we’ll be announcing details about the first ever Market Mommy S.T.A.R. Mom Entrepreneur Award. You won’t want to miss those details!

We have other things in store as well. We’ve already created a new Classified Ad page where you can list your Help Wanted or Business Opportunity ads for just $5. Sign up here. And, we still have spaces left in our Mega Advertising package! Make Market Mommy part of your New Year’s resolution to advertise better! You can have a presence on our site all year long for 50% off! Click here for details!

Are you ready to tackle 2012? Do you have a plan in place and goals set to achieve? Only you have the power to make this year better than the last. As I organize and implement my new ideas, please let me know how Market Mommy can help you. We are here to offer advice, help and services when it comes to ANY aspect of marketing! Have a question? Just ask, chances are we can help you answer it!

And, just in case you haven't viewed it yet, our Holiday Gift Guide is live until the end of January!

Product Review:: PrintArtKids

I’ve been asked to write about the products offered at PrintArtKids.com. The shop’s owner, Abbe Lunger, was kind enough to send me an envelope full of samples so that I could see firsthand the quality and uniqueness of their products.

I must say I was impressed with what I saw. PrintArtKids is all about the art. They take your child’s artwork, or your favorite photograph, and create unique gifts for grandparents, teachers, friends, aunts, uncles moms or dads.

The possibilities are really endless. PrintArtKids offers notebooks, postcards, note cards, holiday cards, address labels, gift labels and notepads. Each item is personalized with your own supplied artwork and many can also include your own messages in a variety of fonts and colors.

Another fun option is the caption on the back of all note cards, holiday cards and notebooks. On the back, you can easily let everyone know that your pride and joy drew the beautiful Christmas tree that’s on the front of your holiday card.

PrintArtKids is featured in our Holiday Gift Guide, in both the For Her and Holiday Cards categories. The company encourages parents to preserve their child’s artwork in the form of functional products. In addition, they use recycled paper and earth-friendly materials in the production of their products.

According to Lunger, she is committed to selling quality products. “I personally oversee the actual printing and always inspect the order prior to shipping.  Every order must meet my personal seal of approval,” she said. “PrintArtKids is my company - created and developed, solely owned and operated  -  and I take pride in guaranteeing unmatched personal service and the highest quality of all PrintArtKids products.”

After taking a look at what PrintArtKids has to offer, I’m confident that you would be more than satisfied with your order. Take a look, browse their site, or find them on Facebook. Thanks for supporting other moms in business!

Wind Up, Release, Pray & Follow Up:: Pitching Your Products to Holiday Gift Guides

We are quickly approaching the most critical part of the year for your product-based business; the holiday season! Typically, this time of year can make or break a company’s bottom line for the year. So, how can you take advantage of the hundreds of holiday gift guides that will be floating around in the months to come?

If you subscribe to HARO, you already know queries for holiday gift ideas have been swarming for weeks, maybe even longer. Some publications are already finished putting their guides together, but many are still working on them. Of course, you can hire a public relations firm to help you do the pitching. Or, you can attempt to save a good bit of money and do it yourself.

Here are some tips that will increase your chances of being included: 

1. Timing is everything! If you see a HARO query, you know they are still looking. Otherwise, it’s wise to pitch early. Many magazines work sixth months in advance of printing, newspapers work on average 2 months in advance and TV, Radio and bloggers generally work a month or so ahead.
2. Pay attention. Make sure you aren’t pitching your baby apparel to a technology gift guide. There are gift guides for nearly every segment of the market and many that contain various categories. Be sure you pitch something appropriate or you will just end up looking silly.
3. Dust off your press kit. Now is a perfect time to put that press kit to good use. {We recently talked about how to put one together.} This is the perfect opportunity to showcase your company, your products and what you have to offer. For holiday gift guides, editors will be especially interested in your high resolution images!
4. Make yourself stand out! If you have a celebrity endorsement, or media sighting of them in/with your product, use that in your pitch. If you are donating a portion of holiday sales to charity, mention that! If your products have been picked up by a chain of retail stores, tell them.
5. Don’t forget to follow up. A friendly e-mail reminding them of what you sent could make a big difference. As always, there are no guarantees, but if you present yourself as professional and easy to work with you can’t hurt your chances.

Good luck! I want to hear about the holiday gift guides that you’ve scored placement in!

Holiday Gift Guide pitching is time consuming and can prove difficult. That is why Market Mommy has created our own guide. You can feature your business for as low as $25 and get lots of exposure. Visit our Holiday Gift Guide page for all of the details. Hurry, early bird pricing ends Oct. 1!

Meet MomsZone.org

MomsZone.org has been one of Market Mommy’s premium partners since our inception last summer.  Here is just a little bit about MomsZone {taken from their website}::

Mom’s Zone is the brainchild of Mona Moore, a mother and successful web designer. Like many women who leave the corporate world to take care of a new baby, Moore felt suddenly disconnected and isolated. As Moore began to rebuild her social network in her new role as stay-at-home mom, she found many others struggling to find that same support system. In 2005, Mom’s Zone was born with one major goal: To help the thousands of young, stay-at-home mothers moving to Arizona make new friends, find specific products and services for their family, and locate fun, enriching activities to do with their children, FOR FREE.

MomsZone.org has a Healthy Living section, event listings, a local business directory and much more. Recently, they’ve just launched a new review site, MomsZoneReviews.com. As part of our partnership, Mom’s Zone is offering a free product review to any business that purchases a listing in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide! If you’re interested, e-mail Tara, after you purchase your listing.

2010 Market Mommy Holiday Gift Guide

Believe it or not, it’s not too early to start thinking about the holidays. Many publications have been working on their holiday gift guides for weeks, if not months.

At Market Mommy, we know as small business owners it’s often hard to compete with those who have larger public relations and marketing budgets. That’s why we offer a low-cost option, with lots of exposure!

The annual Market Mommy Holiday Gift Guide is the premier place to advertise your holiday gift ideas. The guide features the best in holiday gifts from mom-owned businesses! The guide will be published and live on MarketMommy.com beginning November 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011.

This year we’ve expanded our coverage and will blog, tweet and facebook about each specific listing! The guide will also be promoted on our blog, in our newsletter, through press releases, on Twitter and Facebook, on Associated Content and much more!

Spots in our Guide are very affordable; $25 for your first listing and only $10 for each additional listing. There are several categories to choose from::

                * For Baby

                * For Kids

                * For Her

                * For Him            

                * For Home

                * Holiday Cards

                * Stocking Stuffers

                * Gourmet Gifts

Choose any of our eight categories to list your holiday gift idea! Listing includes a 150x150 pixel image, product name and link to your URL of choice. These early bird prices are only good through the month of September, so reserve your space now.

If you don’t have a specific product you would like featured in our guide but still want to benefit from all the extra traffic at MarketMommy.com we are offering sponsorships as well. Sponsorships appear on our main gift guide page and get extra traffic. They include a 480x60 banner ad and link to your URL of choice for only $50.

These prices are excellent for three months worth of holiday advertising, plus all of the bonus exposure we offer! Our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide will be heavily promoted. Hurry, we are limiting the number of products we accept per category, so purchase your listings today!