While reading this article over at BusinessKnowHow.com about unforgettable business cards, I was reminded of a story I heard a while back about mommy business cards. No, not just plain Jane cards being handed out from work, or cell numbers scribbled on Post-its. If you haven't already run across them, mommy business cards are designed to help women (and men, too, actually!) network on another important career path...parenthood.
Entire businesses are even being built off of them, like MommyBIZ and Cards for Moms. Witty Doodles has taken the concept a step further, providing not only mommy business cards and family contact cards, but gift tags, note cards, and more. My personal favorite was the Waterblues card from Cards for Mom. My life would be SO much easier if all of my friends handed me cards with their kids' names and birthdays on them! I love the idea of being able to shop in advance for birthday treats and have the correct spelling of names!
This is an area I can see a lot of room for a creative, entrepreneurial woman to make her mark. Several already have, obviously. Take a look at what they have to offer. How could you use mommy business cards to get ahead? Whether you are leaving the business world to be a stay-at-home mom and don't want to lose your networking savvy, or are a mom who wants to market something useful to other women and bring in a few bucks, I think this market is wide open.
Consider these opportunities to gain clients:
- Single parents on the dating scene (they can exchange cards that share the basics such as children's ages and a safe contact method, such as an email address)
- Single parents looking for friends (upon meeting another parent they'd like to get together with, they can quickly trade information and call later to get together for coffee and a chat on a too-quiet-for-comfort visitation weekend)
- Stay-at-home moms at the playground, PTA meeting or grocery store (moms are forever meeting other moms with kids of similar ages or interests...why tear off a piece of your checkbook register that will get lost anyway?)
- Working moms dealing with daycare and babysitters (leave emergency numbers like your work and cell easily; again, no scraps of paper)
- Expectant moms who meet in Lamaze or prenatal gym classes, or in the doctor/midwife's office (these are great places to meet moms going through the same stages and ages...plus soon they'll have diaper bags to stick extra cards in for Mommy & Me classes!)
- Moms working outside the home (love the quote on the "Baby Buds" Cards for Mom card, which offers the owner's occupation and vocation!)
- Baby boomers with grandkids to coddle and parents to care for. Folks involved with elder care need support and networking opportunities too!
That should get you thinking; I'm sure there are dozens more opportunities as well. What a marketing niche we women are!
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