First things first... Jack's party was fun - though I will say the best laid plans can go awry. If you think I can be over the top, you would have been pleasantly underwhelmed last night. Unexpected snow meant no party hats, one balloon, and store-bought cake. Party goers did, however, make predictions. The most worrisome... "Jack, you will make at least one trip to the emergency room."As you may remember from last week, I am trying to dedicate Fridays to sharing - even showcasing - the group's collective creativity. You pose a dilemma for which you are seeking a creative solution and our fellow blog readers get to weigh in with their suggestions. I'll wait until the following Friday to share my thoughts.
Last week, Stacie posed the challenge to be addressed this week. She said... "I need creative ideas for a grand opening campaign for my massage business (to start in June). I can't spend a ton of money upfront to make this happen, but ideas for a small open house or coupons or package deals or whatever will help. I'll be working from home to start so I can't exactly have a big-free-massage-for-the-public kind of event. Can't wait to hear your thoughts (and others)!"
One anonymous and diligent reader posted last Friday, suggesting that Stacie consider purchasing gloves from the Target Dollar Bins and attaching promotional tags reading, "Can't wait to get my hands on you." Her other suggestion was to do a spin on the Yellow Pages with a tag line saying something about, "Let your fingers do the walking."
Here's my crack at it... stream of consciousness...
- Mother's Day is in May, so you'll miss the boat on that, but maybe Father's Day. Could this be a recommended Father's Day present that thoughtful wives could purchase for their husbands?
- My sister has a couple of Pilates studios and she uses the first day of each new year to promote her studio by selling Pilates sessions for $20.08, $20.09 next year, and $20.10 the year after... you get the idea. If you don't like the idea of using the calendar year, maybe you could use the birth date of your new arrival (Stacy is expecting any day now). If the baby's birthday is today (3/7/08), for instance, maybe you could charge $37.08. If nothing else it earns you an extra $17.00.
- From my hand to yours... maybe you could coordinate with a local manicurist to offer a package deal - massage, plus manicure - for a reduced rate.
- The woman in Louisville who cut my hair would give a free hair cut for each new client I sent her way. I don't know if she considered it cost effective, but it was certainly an incentive for me (and it did land her at least four new clients in the four years she cut my hair).
- Compliments of my friend Quynh, who was riding in the car with me today when this topic came up. How about a CD? She suggested burning Cds of relaxing music and using the face of the CD to put your logo and contact information. I love the idea, because a CD is functional and is something people will use repeatedly.
- If you held an open house, maybe you could incorporate an adaptation to the tried and true Lollipop Pull. Use hands instead of lollipops. Each hand could reveal a different price point. When I was a kid a local ice cream store used to do this with banana splits, except they used balloons. Pop the balloon and inside was a strip of paper revealing the cost of your dessert. I loved the anticipation of the unknown. Come to think of it... maybe that's responsible for my ice cream obsession.
- Massages seem like either the antidote to stress or the ultimate indulgence. So, a question you might ask is what do people stress about or when are they most likely to indulge... Stressors might include paying taxes (April 15 - too soon for your purposes); exams (do students have enough extra cash flow?); or children out of school for the summer (good timing for you). Indulgences might happen in connection with weddings; work promotions (which might mean extra cash flow), or a tax refunds!
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How about a punch card system? After three massages one is free or a gift card is given to the client to use for themselves or to give to someone else as a gift which would bring more business.
Conduct an open house where each visitor will recieve a free de-stressing kit. Once again hit up the dollar bins and give little lotions, a candle, or other relaxing item. Have a promotional brochure to attach and maybe offer free hand massages to give a sampling. Make appointments that day and show off your studio space. Send specific invitations to various groups and be intentional about it.
Get plugged into the community. Go to a local running and or fitness shop and leave some creative brochures offering a discount or good deals.
This is what I'm talking about! I love it. Keep the creativity rolling. As a side not... Stacie, the woman for whom we are doing this great work, is in labor as we speak. We'll send good thoughts her way.
How about a birthday club? You could begin this through your open house and collect their birthdays and email addresses on a sign-up sheet. Then, you could send them notification on their birthday of a discounted massage as their gift from you!
I have a toddler that gets out of bed and sneaks food. He will take anything from candy to fruit back to his bed. When caught and he always get caught (although mostly after the fact) he lies about it until shown the evidence. We have tried time-out, restriction, extra food at dinner, less food at dinner, even refrigerator locks but nothing seems to eliminate the problem. Any suggestions??
When I was little I had a gumball/candy machine in my room, and I enjoyed being able to place money in it and get a treat out. I was not a big sweets fan, but loved the idea of getting a treat for putting money in. Perhaps something like this would help?
I suppose my question would be why is this a big deal? Is it because the sheets or bed gets messy?
Could you create a "Secret Stash" chest or trunk that would promote him storing snacks or treats in? Maybe make it a nightly ritual to look around the house for a hidden key that will open it as a distraction?
Just some thoughts...
I have a creativity predicament for you! I am currently a senior in college preparing to graduate in early May 2008. I would like to create a small keepsake for my closest friends to remember our time spent together over the past 4 years. I am a college student, after all, so it can't be anything too expensive, but definitely needs to be something creative and from the heart! Any help with ideas for this gift would be greatly appreciated!
My daughter received a charm bracelet from her favorite Aunt for her birthday. The idea is to add a meaningful charm each year on her birthday. A charm bracelet is a fun way to personalize a gift and you can keep adding to it. Start with the bracelet and a few memory sparking charms and add year on the anniversary of your graduation.
When trying to address issues of trust with my sons, I like to use the analogy of withdrawing and depositing money in the bank. Every time they do something that breaches my trust in them (sneaking food) it is like making a withdrawl from the bank. Doing trustworthy things (not lying about sneaking food.. or better yet, not sneaking food at all) is like making a deposit.
There are times when I have to explain to one of them that they are not permitted to do something requiring trustworthiness, because they do not have enough money in the bank. On the flip side... I try to "catch them in the act" of being trustworthy, so I can explain that they have just made a deposit in the bank of trust.
If you think a visual aid might help, you could fill a jar with marbles. Breaches of trust result in a marble being removed (or two or three - depending upon how big a fib) and acts of trustworthiness mean marble deposits. Maybe you could experiment with this for two weeks to see if the visual cue helps your son better understand the impact of his lying.
A small scrapbook of pictures and mementos could be put together on a thrifty budget.
How about making mini time capsules for each one and setting a date to open them?
A sentimental CD for each explaining how the lyrics relate to each of them?
Anonymous, if you want to attach someone's parenting style this is not the forum for that. Why don't you ask the other anonymous for her e-mail address and address it there IN PRIVATE?
This is a fun BLOB let's keep it that way!
An idea for each of the two creative dilemmas:
For the toddler: Perhaps you could allow him to decide what he would like for the next morning's breakfast (pancakes, sweet cereal, bacon and eggs, etc...). He gets to vocalize and decide upon the meal that evening and if he doesn't sneak food he gets to have his choice of food in the morning.
On a side note...I think it is good to teach healthy eating habits at this age...I remember when I was in preschool or kindergarten some sort of healthy eating show (with a weird guy that dressed in spandex...eek) but perhaps there is some type of cartoon that he could watch that would get the point across without it having to come from you?
To the college student: How about you use the last few months of college with your friends to create the gift together. You supply a solid color fabric (perhaps in your school colors) and thread and together you each create a quilt using your college t-shirts. I have a t-shirt quilt from college and will always treasure it. This way you not only give them each a gift but you can use your remaining time together in an activity that will bond you all. So when they use their quilt they will not only remember the events that the t-shirts came from but also the time spent together with you and each other as you created these memory quilts.
I agree with Legomom, lets keep this friendly and fun. From the looks of it, it really did become a "Free for all" friday. After all we all are doing our best to be effective parents.
Heather I remember slim good body (scary guy in spandex). That is a great idea to teach kids about healthy eating habits. He always sang catchy songs and had fin cartoon sketches. However,now that I think back on him that spandex suit was something else.
Thanks, Legomom... I agree. Let's keep this fun. You might notice I made a few edits.
See you tomorrow...
For the toddler, maybe there is something about the bed that he finds comforting, where he enjoys to indulge his little treats... How about following his example and throwing a campout on his bed once a week. Hang a sheet over the bed like a tent, turn off the lights, have a flashlight and play a game where your your little one has to sneak in his treats into the tent, trying to avoid all the "animals" oustide. Whatever he can sneak into the tent, you have to eat as that night's dessert, dinner, etc.
As for the senior in college, I would make a DVD of pictures from the last 4 years, place it into a slideshow with songs that really strike a chord from the last few years of your friendship. Plus you can continue to add pictures to your project right up until the day that you decide to burn the DVD. You can include pictures of parties, boyfriends, campus events, grad trips, etc... Very inexpensive.
As for our massage mommy, I would try to coordinate efforts with your local running club or a charity that is running a marathon/walkathon. Participants can come visit your booth once they are done for a discounted massage and/or you can get the running club to change their route so that they end up at your place for once again discounted massage or coupons to be redeemed within the next month. This ensures you have a steady stream of business for the first month... Congratulations on your new baby and your new busines!
Thanks for all the ideas. Last night we tried something new. The plan: In the morning after a successful night of no sneaking he will have earned a truth star. The star is made out of glow in the dark construction paper and says " U R A Truth Star!" at the end of one week and a collection of seven stars he get to pick a treat out at the grocery store. Thanks again for the suggestions.
Slim Goodbody...that's the guy!
I wonder if that might help the little guy learn good eating habits.
I just remember being a kid and doing exactly the OPPOSITE of what my Mom asked just to do the Opposite...maybe if the person teaching is someone not Mom and Dad it would go further.
Helena,
You rock! I love the camp-out idea! He sleeps on the top bunk and I hate to bring food past the kitchen but we will definitely have a camp-out! I'm sure we could bend the no food past the kitchen rule one night a week. Maybe we could set up camp in the family room so that all 5 of us could be part of the camp-out. It will workout perfect with his glow in the dark stars! . Again, thanks to all for the great ideas! We keep you posted as to his progress.
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