Easy to be Green-er

There is an ad playing on the radio, saying that if we all reduce by 3% each year for the next few year, it will make a huge difference, so I started thinking of little, or not so little things that I could do that would be easy. Here are some thoughts:
1. During the day keep the lights off, especially while it's still staying light for a while
2. Make sure the air pressure in the car wheels is where it's supposed to be
3. Buy and use a reuse able container for my morning green tea latte (gtl)
4. Don't print out receipts at the ATM, and some stores will email receipts, so if you need to return something you can print it only when you need it.
5. Recycle wrapping paper. Unwrapping slowly makes it all last longer too!
6. If I don't bring "green" bags to the store, reuse the plastic bag to line the waste baskets, or deal with the kitty litter
7. If you have a baby, reuse the baby food jars for buttons, safety pins, etc... and you'll be able to easily see what's inside.
8. Get a shoebox and put bottle caps, twist ties, bows, or anything that seems to be useless, in it, and use it as a "good stuff" box for art projects
9. Use a nomie baby car seat cover to make an old car seat new again, and keep it clean, so you can pass it along. I couldn't resist throwing that idea out there!

Connecting with Customers

A couple of years ago I was at a Super Bowl party loving it as the Giants were holding their own against the Patriots. It was a wonderful mix of people, but the one thing we all had in common was that we were all cheering for the same team! Early in the second half a few new people joined the party, and made the rounds meeting everyone. I was introduced to one of them, and after a moment realized he was Mickey Drexler of J. Crew. This was enough to distract me from the game, since I am a huge J. Crew fan. Mickey seemed genuinely interested in my enthusiasm for what J.Crew was doing lately, and asked my thoughts on a couple of things, and then pulled a card out and handed it to me. Unlike the usual business card, this was a "friends and family" card allowing me a special discount. What a thrill! I felt as if I had been allowed into a special club. Needless to say, as soon as I got home, I went right online and clicked away.

I had always heard that Mickey Drexler, was the master of getting to know his customers, really caring about what they said, and making them feel important, special and listened to. I certainly found this to be true. Genius. Don't just sit behind a desk and imagine what people want, get out there and ask.

Again, the other day, saw customer care first hand. I was at a luncheon with my mother and grandmother, when Tim Zagat stopped by to say, "Hi" to them. After being introduced to him, and wondering why he would want to be at a luncheon filled with women, he produced a card from his pocket and handed it to me. Again, this was no ordinary card, it was "special gift" treating me to downloads of his guides. Brilliant. It made me feel special and cared for as a customer, which is, after all, what we all would like.

I have always enjoyed hearing from my customers, making customer care a priority, and giving them "special gifts" when ever possible. These two examples reinforce just how important it is to not only listen to my customers, but to make a extra effort to reach out to them, make them feel cared for, and listen to them so I know what is and isn't working. There is no doubt that technology is an incredible tool allowing us to reach people all over the world in seconds, and enables us to get more done, often in less time than ever before; however, there is still no substitute personal connections, and always making customers feel cared for.

Big vs. Small Stores

As they say, "Be careful of what you wish for!" When I first had my idea for the nomie baby car seat covers, the feedback was so positive and encouraging that I imagined that they would sell out as quickly as they were being manufactured, and remember asking how quickly the turn around could be. I also imagined that getting the products into stores would be a snap. In fact, while the feedback for the actual product has been equally incredible as it was for the idea, getting the product in stores has been a bigger challenge than I first imagined, but not all the time.

I first introduced the nomie baby products to a very large baby store chain over a year ago. At the time they weren't taking on new products, but said they wanted to keep in touch, and in October 2009 after keeping them up to date, they said that they would like to carry the car seat covers, and then sent a 24 page vendor agreement. Since October, 6 months ago, we have been going back and forth with the forms, images, insurance forms, warehouse and shipping details, and then they said they needed some updated forms since things had changed since October. While I was re-filling out form 2, I received 2 orders from stores in Brooklyn, NY. My first thought was, how easy those 2 new stores were, and my next was, "Are the big stores really worth it?"

On the one hand, with the small stores I am dealing with one person for the order, billing information, shipping, or photos for their site. On the other hand the larger stores take longer to open the account, there are usually multiple people dealing with the account for each step, and often the initial order is not much bigger than orders for the smaller "mom and pop" stores. I am still holding out hope that the products will be as successful as they have been at Diapers.com, and that will lead to increased orders, and putting nomie baby products in their bricks and mortar stores as well as online. My hope is that the time invested on the front end will be worth it in the end.

Getting Out There!

This past week, nomie baby was part of Big City Moms and The Bump's "Biggest Baby Shower." It was a wonderful opportunity to meet moms and moms-to-be, as well as many many many people I have been in touch with via Facebook, Twitter, a miriade of bloggers and other people in the baby world. Face to face is always better than from behind the screen. I was thrilled to hear how many people have heard of nomie baby, have nomie baby products, or were excited to get some!

While I know it's hard to be everywhere, it is so important to get out in the real world and see real people! Often I feel as if I have, only to realize it is Facebook pictures, or tweets and not person to person. Thank you for such wonderful welcomes!

What's the Difference?

When trying to pitch, sell or simply describe a product, I have found that people like to be nay-sayers or skeptics. "What's so great about your product?" "Why should I buy your product?" "Why is your product different?" These are all very valid and intelligent questions, and ones that I have asked myself countless times, and they also made me think about how to get across what I have learned. Sometimes, because I am so close to my "baby," the nomie baby car seat covers, the answers seem obvious to me, but not necessarily so for others, so here's an attempt to clearly and simply answer these, as well as other FAQs.

"What's so great about your product?" It is an easy way to deal with all the messes that happen to your child's car seat, without the hassle of wrestling to remove the seat from the car, or disassembling the straps. It slips on and off in a snap and goes right into the washer and dryer. It solves the messy problems with ease.

"Why should I buy your product?" If you have ever experienced the hassle of trying to clean up after a long car ride, or even a trip to the grocery store, you know what a pain it is. The nomie baby car seat cover makes it so easy. In addition, it can extend the life of your car seat, and even makes it possible to pass along car seats to younger brothers and sisters, friends and family without being ashamed of how messy they look. In short, it's much less expensive, only $36, to get the cover than to buy a whole new seat because the seat is just too gross to put your child in it one more time!

"Why is your product different?" While there are other car seat covers out there, most are just decorative, and therefore the mess will just leak through. The nomie baby car seat cover has a waterproof back, so your car seat is protected from leaks and spills. The nomie baby cover is also much less expensive than others on the market, and the design allows it to slip on without rethreading the straps or taking it out of the car.

Another common question, is which car seats does it fit? The cover is designed with elastic edges and Velcro opening for the straps, so it fits many makes and models, but with the huge variety, it is not possible for it to fit all. The following is a list of toddler and infant car seats that each size fits:
TODDLER
Britax Marathon,Britax Roundabout, Britax Boulevard
Cosco Alpha Omega,Cosco Alpha Omega Elite (Raise Arm Rests), Cosco Convertible, Cosco Scenera 5-point Convertible
Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 Deluxe (take out cup holders)
Eddie Bauer Deluxe (arm rests up)
Evenflo Titan Elite, Evenflo Tribute 5, Evenflo Triumph Advance LX, Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX,
Evenflo Triumph Advance
Fisher Price Safe Voyage
Graco Safe Seat Step 2 Convertible, Graco Comfort Sport
Maxi Cosi Priori
Sunshine Kids Radian 65

INFANT
Graco SafeSeat, Graco SnugRide
Baby Trend Flex Loc
Chicco Key Fit 20
Evenflo Embrace
Eddie Bauer Endeavor

I hope I have succeeded in answering and convincing you why the nomie baby car seat cover really is a must-have, and if you still need some convincing, please visit the "testimonials" page on the website, www.nomiebaby.com.

Here's to spreading the happy-mess!

A Pictures Tells 1,000 Words

Often I have found, that while I think I am being clear when I am describing things, there are times that words seem to fail me. As a result, sometimes drawings, diagrams and demonstrations work really well. For many reasons I love doing demonstrations. Getting in front of people is really the best. It not only allows me to quickly demonstrate how quickly and easily the nomie baby car seat covers and 'cozy ups' work, and how great they feel, but it allows me to get instant feedback and thoughts.

I have been fortunate to have received many wonderful emails and comments about the nomie baby products, and some people have even sent wonderful photos of their little ones. What a treat! The more the merrier. I would love to start a gallery of nomie baby babies. Again, I love receiving the notes, getting re-orders and referrals, but "a picture tells 1,000 words - truly!

Testimonials

There are many great and rewarding aspects of having started nomie baby: watching my idea go from a thought to a product, working with incredible people, watching the products and brand grow in popularity, exposure and sales, and hearing from customers who are happy with how easy it is to solve problems!

This evening I opened my email to read a note from a customers, and was thrilled to hear her happy-mess...

"I've been meaning to write.

I saw you speak at Barnes and Nobel at the Collective-E Mompreneur Event and I won a car seat cover.

It was PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT on our recent trip to MD. We drove down to see my parents and had no traffic so I pushed through and didn't stop. My daughter is 17mo so she sleeps throught the night longer than we were in teh car (4.5hrs) so I figured we'd make it safely. No such luck. She was soaked and more importantly, the car seat would've been destroyed if I hadn't put the nomie baby car seat cover on that morning. We got to MD, I handed her off to her grandparents, before we even got to the front door, and 5 minutes later the cover was in the laundry ready for our trip back to NYC.

THANK YOU! Plus, the pink cover is so much nicer than the random gender-neutral car seat we ended up with.

Good luck!"