Publicize your product or company with friends
on social networking sites like Facebook.com or LinkedIn.com. "I got
several clients when I did it," says Laura Betterly, founder of Yada
Yada Marketing. "These social networks extend
that word of mouth. And it's free."
E-Retailing Is Your Friend
Between the kids and the career, parents simply don't have weekends
devoted to shopping. Many open their wallets late at night online. So if
you can afford it, add an e-retailing component to your Web site.
Include Dads
Unlike dads of the past, today's men take an active part in parenting
decisions. So don't talk down to them or portray them as inattentive. "I
remember reading that dads will especially do a ton of research on the
gear end of things," says Urbanbaby.com Associate Editor Brooke Showell.
Give Them What They Want
So what's important to parents nowadays? Lifestyle issues like products
made with natural and sustainable materials, being organic and being
healthy, says Showell. Betterly says helping parents save time is a
must. Phanfare learned, after surveying its core audience, that
security, long-term storage and giving customers the ability to add
comments and have friends add to the albums were paramount.
"We also
created a group feature which allows you to be connected with
individuals in a way that doesn't give them access to all of your
content," says Matthew Solomon, vice president of marketing. "It could
be with parents at the day care center or a kid's softball team. But
they wouldn't see your kids in the Bahamas."
Form and Function
How a product looks is just as important as what it is and how it can
help, say the experts. When popular parenting Web site Urbanbaby.com
scouts out new companies to feature, it is especially interested in
design. "Our readers are smart and sophisticated in terms of their
taste," says Showell.
"Design is always a key factor for us. It also has
to serve a purpose and be of high quality. Our readers want top quality
but don't want to be taken advantage of on price."
Rolando agrees, adding, "The boundaries between a kid's world and the
parent's world is blurring. Today you find the same music in a father's
iPod as in his teenager's. So parents are interested in things for their
kids that appeal to them. They want a stroller or a high chair that will
match their car or living room."
Got a story idea? Email Lan.thestreet@hotmail.com.