Press Pass:

Thought I’d share our latest press release:

TodaysMama.com Survey Reveals 85 Percent of Moms Plan to Cut Holiday Spending Due to Economic Conditions

Moms indicate they have made cuts to their monthly budgets, and 62 percent will not shop on Black Friday

November 24, 2008–TodaysMama.com today announced the results of its 2008 Holiday Economic Survey, revealing that 85 percent of moms across the United States are trimming their holiday budgets due to concern about the long-term economic outlook. Of those, 14 percent plan to cut holiday spending by an astounding 75percent, and 32 percent will cut holiday spending by 50 percent. The survey, which included 1050 respondents, also found that 62 percent of moms do not plan to shop on Black Friday, and 66 percent believe it will take two to three years for the economy to recover.

“We’ve all read about the economic woes our country is facing, but we wanted to get the mom perspective,” said Rachael Herrscher, co-founder and CEO of TodaysMama.com. “Moms influence budgets and spending habits, and we find it very interesting that they believe the economy is in trouble for years to come. The situation is serious enough to cause them to trim overall family budgets and to drastically reduce holiday spending this year.”

Key findings of the TodaysMama.com 2008 Holiday Economic Survey include:

•  85 percent of Moms surveyed plan to curb their holiday spending this year.

• 14 percent  plan to cut holiday spending by an astonishing 75 percent, 33 percent will cut spending by 50 percent, 23 percent will cut spending by 25 percent, and 15 percent will cut spending by 10 percent.

• Only 9 percent of respondents said they would not be cutting spending at all this year.

• 63 percent of moms indicated they would not be shopping on Black Friday this year.

•   89 percent of survey respondents plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping online this year.

When asked how they would find the best holiday deals, 65 percent of respondents said they would use all of the tactics listed, which include shopping online, holding out for last-minute sales, taking advantage of early sales and offers, and paying close attention to ads and mailers.

• 47 percent of moms have made minor cuts to their current monthly budgets. Twenty-six percent have made major cuts, and 13 percent indicated they are in need of supplemental assistance.

• 45 percent of moms surveyed say their home has lost value due to the current economy.

• 23 percent of moms surveyed said they have returned to work either full- or part-time due to the economy.

• Another 7 percent said they have had to get a second job to make ends meet.

Regarding the effect the incoming administration will have on the economy, 37 percent of survey respondents said they are unsettled since Barack Obama was not their top pick. Twenty-nine percent believe Obama will make a real difference for the economy, and 28 percent believe any change is good.

66 percent of moms believe the economy will take two to three years to recover. Eighteen percent believe things will start to look up in a year, and 13 percent believe “we’re in for it” for the foreseeable future.

“Moms are spending less this year, and they are worried about our economic future,” said Herrscher. “TodaysMama aims to help families find free or inexpensive holiday events to take advantage of in their local communities. Despite a slowing economy, the holidays can be about fun activities, family time, and service.”

TodaysMama.com offers holiday articles, tips and tricks, local calendars, and activities in 18 national markets. To tune into national content, or to find your local TodaysMama.com market, visit www.TodaysMama.com. For complete survey results, email pr@todaysmama.com.

If not–you should have. With PR, it’s always important to be timely. How does your business leverage the timely events that are happening in your world right now?

Before and through the elections many organizations benefited by participating in some way in their community or nation by targeting some promotion or some part of their messaging and business to the elections.

What did your business do?

If the answer is nothing–all I ask is that you brainstorm a bit and ask yourself how your organization could have participated. The cool thing about the elections this year is that is provided several opportunities.

Promotions are a great way to get involved. Whether you give away free stuff for voting or give out amazing discounts on Black Friday or the day your taxes are due, there are hundreds of opportunities to be timely. The key is to do something worth talking about.

Examples:
Ben and Jerry’s gave out free scoops for voting
Starbucks gave away coffee
Krispy Kreme gave donuts
and
TodaysMama.com teamed up with SitterCity.com to offer free and discounted babysitting to help moms make it to the polls all over the country through our MamaVote Project.

Organizations could have been a sounding board for what people in their demographic thought or felt about the elections (think surveys, demographic studies, etc.). Just think–the Plumbers Association of America (is there one?) could have done a survey of its members to see how they felt about the economy and Obama’s tax policies, and they would have had a screamin’ press release. If your business targets a certain demographic you can identify, you have the room to be the expert on your demographic both in your local community and nationally.

TodaysMama.com does surveys all of the time regarding the different issues affecting mothers and families . . . and then we send a press release about it.

From major magazines and websites down to grassroots community organizations, businesses found a way to get involved. Whether they were targeting content, partnering with other organizations to sponsor events or helping to promote voter registration with a simple button on their site, there were endless ways to get involved.

The Results
Check out a bit of the press we drummed up promoting The MamaVote Project and our Free Sitting Promotion with SitterCity.com:

Over the past year or so and especially close to election day, we got hits from CNN, NewsDay, Parenting Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, the Huffington Post and lots of local media outlets. Check out our press page for more links and details. We also got lots of great local coverage in the various cities we are in across the country.

In addition to great coverage through traditional media outlets, we also talked to bloggers and had some amazing coverage from them (Thank you) :

BettyConfidential.com

MomLogic

Jillian C. York

Startup Princess: Need Someone to Watch Your Kids So You Can Vote?

Bargain Hunting Moms: Free Babysitting on Election Day!

Strollerderby (Babble): Free Babysitting on Election Day!

Working Mother

Hip Mamas Place

Shoplifting with Permission

Daily Cents

5 Minutes for Mom

The Clutter Diet Blog

Cool Mom Picks

Parenting Our Children

Squeaky Stroller

The Integrated Mother

Common Sense with Money

Mama Lounge

Learning Moments of Moms

What are some of the ways you can get involved with other current issues? Think about the economy, Christmas, change–and especially think about what’s going on in your own backyard. I always think the best place to start is in your local community. Is there something going on that has everybody talking? If so–you know what direction you should be headed.

A few basic tools that every entrepreneur should utilize: Google Alerts and Technorati.

I sign up for Google Alerts to keep up on any time we are talked about on the World Wide Web, and I use Technorati to keep my eye on the blogosphere.

Google Alerts
It’s easy. For Google, just set up an account. Click on My Account, and this will bring you to My Services. Click on Alerts, and enter the search terms you’d like to track. I have alerts sent to me once a day. In addition to tracking my own info, I track competitors and industry keywords to keep up on any interesting trends.

For more on Google Alerts, click here.

Technorati
If you want to see what blogs are saying about you or you want to track your own blogs’ impact, simply type your name, business name, website and blog address in the search field on Technorati and check out your results. You can subscribe to other services, and setting up an account is free.

For more about Technorati, click here.

So I’m participating in this little cyber social trend that most people introduce by saying, “I’ve been tagged.” Well, the truth is, I have been tagged–by David Wescott on the topic of media snackers that Jeremiah Owyang dreamt up. They’re asking if I respect “media snackers,” defined by Owyang as “folks who consume small bits of information, data or entertainment when, where and how they want.”

First let me circle round to PR and say that playing “tag” online can drum up traffic and buzz, thus–I shall participate, and we shall see if we can leverage this game a little (let me also give the disclaimer that I was tagged–ummmmm–a month ago! Sorry!).

Second, let me give you my take on media snacking: I’m a snacker. I don’t have the time or the stamina to get through an entire newspaper. When I read a magazine–I scan, and I rip out the pages that look good for later–just so I can get the rest of the magazine and the annoying inserts that fall out into the recycling bin and out of my subconsious. I have a smart phone to keep me plugged into my business and personal life at all hours. And when I’m not working, taking care of my kids, blogging or scanning the web (quickly) for anything relevant to me–I should be sleeping. I just don’t have the time to digest large amounts of info. I’ve got too much to do in the meantime. So I snack.

Snacking is, after all, the way that fit people digest. The healthiest people snack all day long in six small meals–so I guess I’ll try to maintain that snacking isn’t all too horrible for people like me. I know a little about a lot–and I have Google for the rest.

So what does this mean to you if you are a provider of information to anyone who should care about what you say? Keep it short and relevant. If you are a media snacker–I’ve probably already lost you because I’ve just entered my fifth paragraph.

Happy Snacking!