Milkface Nursingwear Inc

What's new and on my mind at milkface

Monday, November 03, 2008

PimpMyBiz Diary - Submission #1

With the recent win of the LIVE 88.5 FM "Pimp My Biz" contest and the incredible response we have received in the store, in our kids's schoolyard and even on the street, we thought it would be good to share our account of the process and take you on our journey as things progress with the radio station and the prize suppliers. Generally, Andy Pegan will be the author of this "diary."



It was on a late evening, around 11:30pm, when, while lisening to LIVE 88.5 on the radio in our minivan, I first heard about the contest. I had this overwhelming feeling that we, Milkface Nursingwear, would win this contest. Not that we might or could win, but that we WOULD win. I raced home to get more details online. Not much was found. A link on the radio station website, www.livelifelive.fm, had a contest submission form which I filled out after confirming that Milkface Nursingwear met the contst requirements for # of employees and annula revenues.

Here is our submission:
DESCRIBE BUSINESS

Milkface Nursingwear is Ottawa's original "Mom Store." Stylish nursingwear, an unmatched selection of nursing and transition bras up to size K, and the best selection of baby carriers anywhere, we provide mothers of new babies the tools and informational resources to ensure they are equipped to deal with the practical and social challenges of breastfeeding so they can provide the proven benefits of breastfeeding and babywearing to their families.

Milkface is a proud supporter of breastfeeding and babywearing support and advocacy groups and makes available a seminar space located above the store for these groups for free in an effort to spread the word about the benefits of these age-old, yet misunderstood practices.

All staff are parents and most are members and leaders of La Leche League in Ottawa. We know the issues new moms face and can provide counsel and support by providing real-life experience and first hand anecdotes to help moms experience the joys of parenthood.

Milkface has been a bricks and mortar store since DEC 2006. Before that we operated as an appointment-only boutique from our home basement. Britt Pegan, the founder, is a loving wife and mother of 3 daughters including twins who she had many opportunities to wear at the same time and nurse simultaneously.

Like LIVE 88.5FM, we are hip, edgy and are making our presence known to a growing number of Ottawa residents daily. In fact, LIVE 88.5FM is the station of choice for the store, our home and vehicle. 88.5FM was born to the tune, "Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop on a December day several years back. We, too, share that lust for life and wish to spread it to others through our business and charitable work in Ottawa and throughout North America. Aiding others and bringing joy to their lives is the greatest reward we experience at Milkface. We thank you for the opportunity to share our business with your listeners.

HOW WOULD WE BENEFIT FROM PRIZE
NOTE: At this time, prize specifics were not clear (specifics now known in brackets) but prize suppliers were:
Live 88.5FM radio time ($10,000 value)
Metro Daily News print spots ($10,000 value)
Curam Group Web Development ($15,000 value)
K6 Media car wrap and/or storefront design ($10,000 value)
OttawaKiosk.com web mareketing ($5,000 value)



Milkface has been a hit since we opened our doors in Westboro less than 2 years ago. Unfortunately we now find that our space is too limiting to provide all the options available to new parents and the store can be crowded at times. We are looking to open a second store in Q1 2009 and would "pimp out" the clean-slate facade and interior of our new location (not yet determined).

Marketing would promote the new store launch as well as generate awareness of the existing store and why we exist.

Our highly acclaimed e-commerce website, www.milkface.com, would remain largely unchanged because our customers like it – a lot. That said, SEO practices would be applied to get the word out to those looking for breastfeeding and babywearing resources on the web.

Our Honda Odyssey would be a candidate for a vehicle wrap.

Our greatest benefit would be in our ability to further help others through further support and advocacy of breastfeeding and babywearing benefits that the elements of this prize would ultimately allow us to realize.



Again, I felt that we could not lose. We tied in so well with the perceived listener demographic, we had a successful business that offered a clean-slate opportunity to build on with a new store opening propesed and we served the community on many levels including charitable offerings. Worst case scenario was that we would be mentioned on the radio as a contestant - valuable exposure in itself.

I have a few more submissions to get you all caught up today but I'll leave it here for now. Check back soon.

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