Due in a Few

I’m pretty vocal about my LACK of desire for a new baby! =) So, when Houston’s top news anchor, Dominique Sachse, approached us about being a Women Who WOW sponsor, I was hesitant.  However, the “due in a few” message resonated with me.  Birthing, nurturing, developing a business has MANY parallels with birthing, nurturing, growing a human.  MANY if not all of our members have dreams / goals / aspirations that are being birthed…. and “due in a few.”  When the pins arrived, I actually made them part of our monthly meeting.

Dominique has always been involved in many charities, and the charities for children were ALWAYS near and dear to her heart. One day, when traveling out of town, she and her husband happened to come upon a very pregnant woman. They stopped to congratulate her and as they walked away they thought it would be GREAT to have something that celebrates maternity. Especially in the early stages when a mother-to-be is excited for her new addition to her family, but not yet showing enough for people to notice. They thought of the idea to create a pin that symbolizes pregnancy worldwide.  Due In a Few was born. They agreed that a baby IS the ultimate gift. The pin has bow symbolizing the baby, the color blue for a boy, pink for a girl, and white for when they are still in the early stages of pregnancy OR they aren’t going to find out the sex of the baby, and then a heart for love.

The biggest lessons they have learned when creating a new business are to be patient and work hard!  There are a LOT of parts that need to come together to make it happen, so be patient! Dominique says, ” it is going to take a lot of work to bring a business to life but with a lot of hard work and devotion, you can make your business aspirations become a reality!”

Text In a Bottle

Text in a bottle is something I’ll use again and again in marketing… because it’s such a unique concept.  I LOVE the anticipation it creates… how it counts down your message to your market or prospects and makes your message a bit of an “event.”

Andrea created Text In A Bottle after she heard a story about a woman who received a letter from the father she never met, who was killed in WWII. It took 69 YEARS to get the letter, but it’s contents were invaluable. It made Andrea think about how timing is everything and how invaluable a well timed message can become.

THAT set her on the path to create textinabottle.com. As the name suggests, the site is a cross between the old fashioned and slow method of reaching out to someone — a message in a bottle; and the modern form of communication that is short hand and immediate — texting. The textinabottle.com “hybrid” incorporates the best of both worlds by emphasizing the power of a well written message (using text, audio, video, or attachments) with the modern day advances of delivery. Imagine the opportunities this represents in your marketing plan.

Each recipient gets an email allowing them to view the message sent with a count down clock. The message can’t be opened even if it’s days, weeks, months, or YEARS later. Her site was created to make a difference in the lives of our children, parents, grandparents, students, soldiers, and loved ones. By creating a text bottle now anyone can change the future by creating journals, time capsules, goal setting, vault letters, and special occasion wishes with valuable messages that can become more invaluable over time.

The most exciting thing Andrea has learned in business is through the development and launch of textinabottle.com, she still sees that the America she grew up believing in still exists. As an internet start-up without the backing of venture funds or established investors, she has had to rely on the expertise and support of many small businesses. Whether it was the programmer, beta testers, or marketers, each of these businesses has worked hand in hand with her to give her the greatest value at the lowest cost. They believe in the website and have supported her in her effort to bring her site to the public. They are all hard working people who, like herself, believe we are still a great nation full of hard working innovative people. She says it is definitely harder now-a-days for small businesses and entrepreneurs to flourish, but by uniting together the American initiative she grew up believing in is still surviving. It is Andrea’s hope that Text In A Bottle will succeed in order to validate the belief of all of those small business owners.

Andrea, we believe with you!  We entrepreneurs are a stubborn but loyal bunch.  Proud to stand with you! xoxo