Award-winning public relations professional and former broadcast journalist, Marlynn Jayme Schotland created Mamapreneurs Inc.
to provide support and networking opportunities to business owners who
are also mothers. Based in Portland, Oregon, the organization reaches
out online to “mamapreneurs” anywhere in the world.
Here, Marlynn talks about strategies for growing an active membership web site, and shares
her top 5 tips for online community building.
Can you begin by telling us a little bit about Mamapreneurs Inc.?
Mamapreneurs Inc. started because when I left the corporate world to start Urban Bliss Design,
I couldn’t find a group that met my own personal needs. I wanted to
talk about both business and family life matters all in the same place,
with moms who were also running their businesses while raising
families. We launched on Mother’s Day of 2006 and now have 200+ members.
A mamapreneur is a mom who owns her own business — our members are
in their 20’s to 60’s, and their kids range in age from newborn to
their 30’s — so really, it doesn’t matter how old you are, how many
kids you have or what type of business you run, or whether you work
from home or an outside office: if you’re a mom, and you own a company,
then you are a mamapreneur. Our mission is to help mamapreneurs in both
business and family life.
You’ve recently added a membership category for “members at
large” — those who live outside a 90-mile radius of Portland, Oregon.
Did the website started out as a support for a “real world” networking
group, or did you always plan to build a membership-based online
community?
We’ve always had both. We have always had in-person monthly
meetings, playdates, moms night outs, and special events, and we’ve
always had a blog and a private online forum for members only.
How much effort did it take you to setup the website?
I set up the website, and compared to other platforms I have used in
building websites, Wild Apricot is by far the EASIEST system to use.
Now, I know HTML and have built websites in the past, but I also run
two other businesses and write for several blogs and didn’t want to
spend hours coding everything by hand again for our relaunch. Wild
Apricot was the best solution for us.
How many people are involved in maintaining the site/system?
I do the majority of website updates and maintenance, and I have a
part-time assistant, Tara, who helps with membership items on the site.
What tools and strategies do you use to attract members?
By far, the majority of new members join Mamapreneurs Inc because
they’ve heard good things from current members. Word of mouth from
current members has been incredible, and I’m so thankful to all of the
amazing mamapreneurs in the group for spreading the word. I’ve also
found that social media methods are successful in driving traffic to
the site and also helping me connect with other mamapreneurs, both on a
professional and a personal level.
What are the main reasons why your members join?
The majority of members join because they want to make connections
on both a personal and professional level with moms who are going
through the same thing they are going through. Many of them end up
doing business with each other because of those connections.
What are the most popular features of your website? (What gets the most action? What keeps ‘em coming back?)
The Member Directory is popular. People love to learn what mom-owned businesses are out there.
You offer a variety of social and business events to your
members, from networking playdates to the upcoming “The Makings of a
Mamapreneur” conference. How are you managing all that?
Lots of coffee :-)
The members-only “Support Source” system is an interesting idea — can you give us an idea of how it works?
If
a member has had a new baby, a family loss, or some other situation
where they need assistance, they can contact one of our Support Source
volunteers. The volunteers then put out the call with specific needs to
members on our private forum. Any members who are able to help, then
contact the volunteer coordinators.
If you were to share some lessons you’ve learned in building and
growing an online community, what would you say are the 5 most
important things to consider?
- Constantly ask for feedback and when given, listen to your
customers and make changes when necessary. I’ve made A LOT of changes
to the online portions of our group and all have been made because of
feedback I’ve received. Certainly, some feedback cannot be implemented,
but it’s good to know how people are using the site and how they are
not. Some feedback has surprised me.
- “Tell them what you want them to know, tell them what you told
them, and then tell them again.” That old journalism phrase works with
building online communities as well. I send out a lot of newsletters,
emails, and post the same info in different ways on various
sites/forums. With mamapreneurs (the busiest people on earth!) I’ve
found it takes at LEAST three times for the information to sink in that
something on the site has changed.
- Respond quickly, within at least one business day, to website
problems or issues. Even if I am swamped, I try to at least send an
email telling them that I will get back to them as soon as possible.
- Don’t force connections. Sometimes I will try something new with
the site, and it just won’t stick like I thought it would. I give
people time to adjust to the changes, but if they aren’t working in the
long run, I get rid of them.
- Make it fun and take initiative. People get excited when they see
others are excited. Most people don’t want to be the first to start a
conversation, so it’s often up to me to get things going.
What’s in the future for Mamapreneurs Inc.?
Anything is possible! :-)
I’ll be starting The Makings of a Mamapreneur podcast/radio show on
BlogTalkRadio starting October 10th (10:30 am PST!).
Other than that, I
plan to grow the business organically and see where the road takes us.
We’ll definitely be offering services in other cities, whether in the
form of The Makings of a Mamapreneur conference and Mom Shop fair or in
the form of chapters in each city, that’s up in the air.
All I know is that we’re helping mamapreneurs connect not just with
themselves, but with the business community at large, and if we can
continue to make a difference in families lives, and if we can continue
to change attitudes in this country regarding work and family, then
we’re growing in the right direction.
