No Time For Social Media? Hire a Mom.
The rise of social media is undoubtedly one of the biggest changes to happen to marketing since the birth of the internet. According to a Universal McCann 2008 study, 272 million people are using social media. Of those 272 million, 77% are reading blogs and approximately 34% of them are posting opinions about companies and brands on their profiles/blogs. With those kinds of numbers, chances are they are talking about you, your competitors, and your industry. Why not join the conversation?
Time constraints. Steep learning curve. Lack of “social” skills. These are just a few of the excuses I’ve heard for not implementing a social media strategy. They are all legitimate and worth consideration. After all, first impressions count. I would never suggest jumping into social media when you know you won’t have the time or resources to make the strategy successful. It will not only fail, but could tarnish your brand as well. However, as with most things, there is a way to outsource your social media efforts. With the right partner, this type of relationship can give your brand a presence in social media, help you overcome the learning curve, and even teach you a thing or two about being “social.” One possible partner for your journey into social media is MomForce.com.
MomForce.com was founded in late 2008 as a partnership between Jessica Smith and Care.com. Jessica saw the partnership as an opportunity to blend her personal brand as Chief Mom Officer for Wishpot.com and popular blog JessicaKnows.com with Care.com’s professional brand of being a leader in the care provider referral industry. The goal of MomForce is to help entrepreneurs and companies enter social media by matching them with social media savvy moms that often have previous career experience with marketing. Jessica explains further, “While our tagline is ‘Reach Moms. With Moms.’ I think companies will find a lot of these moms have impressive experience that reaches beyond the mom market.” The process behind MomForce is designed to be simple and painless for both the companies and the moms looking for virtual work opportunities. Once moms submit their profiles, complete with resumes outlining previous marketing experience, companies are then able to search the database for candidates that fit their desired skill set. The moms are then hired as independent contractors which save companies the expense of additional overhead and employee costs. This creates the perfect win/win situation, flexible hours for moms and lower costs for companies.
MomForce is a good example of the many creative options available for time-strapped entrepreneurs to join in on the social media bandwagon. While I feel that social media is done best in-house, I do think alternatives like this are better than nothing. Social media marketing is here to stay and will only get bigger and better in the years to come. Entrepreneurs have two choices, to either get on the bus or get run over.
Want more? Follow me at www.twitter.com/glamajama and be sure to visit www.glamajama.com .
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March 30th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Thanks Heather! I agree that social media is best done in-house as well. I think what we will start to see are more of these freelancing gigs turning into long-term relationships as the need for flexibility in the work force is required. Not only for moms, but for companies that need to streamline their budgets but can’t cut their resources altogether.
March 30th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Whoa, Heather, this is an awesome idea. I would hire a mom in a second! What a good idea
March 30th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Heather,
What a great article–I learn something new & wonderful about Jessica every day!
This is such a fabulous idea–a partnership between companies & moms using the power of social media!
I’m definitely going to check out Mom Force.
Thanks for the amazing article.
Heather
March 30th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I think I need to hire some help, but how much would these moms actually work for.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:08 am
Hi Kia,
It really depends on what type of work you need, how many hours, and what qualifications you are looking for. That being said, I think you might be surprised at how affordable it can be!
All the Best,
Heather
April 1st, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Thank you so much! We need someone to run a blog for our business. I will be checking out momforce.com!
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April 30th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
I will be checking out Momforce!
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