Doing Business in Your Bathrobe
02/09/2007
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
When my mom did it in the '70's it wasn't talked about. When I did it in the '90's it was still something people found to be well .. different and a little secretive. But now the shades are drawn and the secret is out and lots of people are doing it and lots more wish they were!
Home-based, Working Virtual, Working Remotely, Working at Home or Working In Your PJs .. yes, Divas, there have been a few of those PJ days for me too. But the commute sure is easy and I'm doing my part to help with the horrid Atlanta traffic challenges.
Kristie Tamsevicius, WebMomz, thought there should be a celebration for home business ownership. So much so that she created a holiday - Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day now celebrating it's 5th year; and although you may not find a Hallmark card - yet - it's become an international holiday sponsored by International Robes.
In addition to a reason to stay in your bathrobe all day, the idea of owning a holiday is a brilliant marketing strategy. If you can make it work. Kristie kindly agreed to an email interview. She lets us in on the back-story of Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day and offers some thoughtful ideas of how to create and promote a marketing holiday.
Toby/Diva Marketing - Now I must admit, that sometimes I work in my PJs. Where did the idea to create a holiday around working in your bathrobe come from?
Kristie T - Five years ago when I published my book, I was looking for a fun way to create buzz. My business partner and I were joking about how entrepreneurs work at home in their pajamas. And then we said, "Hey, we should make a special holiday for working in your pjs and bathrobe or something…" And then we looked at each other and a light bulb went off. And that was how we created "Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day" – a day to celebrate the freedom of entrepreneurs. And it's really caught on. Today the holiday is celebrated in 7 countries around the world.
Toby/Diva Marketing - Your website is WebMomz. Is this a day for women only?
Kristie T - The holiday is for any work at home entrepreneur. It's not exclusive just to moms.
Toby/Diva Marketing - How does one celebrate "Working in Your Bathrobe Day?"
Kristie T - Well by wearing your bathrobe of course on February 12th. We also hope that you will drop by our website, WebMomz and enter to win a plush bathrobe and other cool prizes. There's also a cool press release you can grab and send to your local paper that tells them you are celebrating the holiday. It's a great way to get some free press for your business. And finally, if you are game… we'd love for you to send a picture of yourself working in your bathrobe and we'll post it on the site.
Toby/Diva Marketing - I did a bit of search research and learned that this holiday is celebrated in Britain and in Australia. When you began promoting "Working in Your Bath Robe Day?" what was your original goal? Where would you like to see your holiday go?
Kristie T - When I started the holiday, I never dreamed how big it would become. But it's a fun celebration around a big idea – the freedom of a work at home lifestyle. And I think it strikes a cord for many people.
We registered it as an official holiday. Before we knew it, some Canadian work at home communities came on board, then it was the Australian mums. Then it was moms in the UK, Ireland, and Iceland. This year we had a mom in Bulgaria announce she was celebrating.
It's become a bit of a phenomenon really. I think part of it is because of the element with the press release that gets people PR for their own work at home business. That's the "what's in it for them" piece. I think too that the media is looking for "good news" pieces. This is a fun story and people want to hear that there are good things going on in the world too.
Toby/Diva Marketing - Creating and owning a holiday is a terrific marketing strategy. What advise would you give entrepreneurs who want to develop a 'holiday' of their own?
Kristie T - You need to find a big idea, something exciting that grabs people's hearts and makes them want to be a part of it. Entrepreneurs thrive on freedom. They are passionate about what they do. So that translates into excitement around a holiday celebrating something they hold dear.
Second, see if you can find a sponsor to join with you. Early on InternationalRobe saw what we were doing and wanted on board. Teaming up with a big league company gives you a lot of credibility.
Third, find a way that people can be a part of it. Can they enter a contest? Is there something they can do?
Submit a national press release. Pay the money to have someone write something to catch the media's attention. We get tv, radio, and newspaper coverage every year just from one press release. It's totally worth it.
Let bloggers spread the word for you. This has been key for us getting the word out in a big way online.
Make it official by registering your holiday. You can submit your holiday at Chase's Calendar of Events to make it a real holiday.
And if you don't want to go to the trouble to create your own holiday, see if there is a holiday that you can piggyback off of. If you are a virtual assistant, maybe you want to make a big deal when Secretary's Day comes along with a celebration, a special discount on products/services etc.
I say go for it. Having your own holiday is fun and what a wonderful way to go down in history than to your own special day.
Read More About Creating A Holiday As A Marketing Strategy
business astrology for fun -
from The Astro Divas Paula Dare & Donna Page
Be careful of spending money on impulse with Venus square Uranus today. Do you really need that $1,000.00 chair to make your office look better? If you’re having a bad day don’t go home and pick a fight with your partner especially if you were hoping to get lucky tonight. The fight could drag on over the weekend as the Sun opposes Saturn. You could end up skulking around all day and feel sorry for yourself.
This really isn’t turning out to be a great week for good communication. Everyone’s favorite falls on Wed. 2/13/07. Mercury goes Retrograde. This should be an interesting Retrograde as it is in Pisces. Communication may end up really twisted and jumbled up and be understood as something completely different than what comes out of your mouth. The mind wants to dream in Pisces. As standard practice, it isn’t wise during any Mercury Retrograde to sign contracts. In this case it’s a double whammy.
Don’t be duped by anybody painting a pretty picture – it could turn into the swampland in Florida. Hold off till Mercury turns Direct 3/7. Then we have Valentine’s Day 2/14. Please make the best of it – kiss and makeup.
