May 31st, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
If you commented on the Name Game blog entry, keep watch on Caitlin’s “Mabel Files” (www.blog.mabel.ca) where she will soon be posting the winner of the Camp Pack. Caitlin takes care of all the official stuff and I get to have the blogging fun. Heck, I’m on maternity leave so it seems fair that I run the contest and someone else worries about monitoring entries, wouldn’t you say?
Although I’m on mat leave, I have not fallen off the face of the earth entirely – still blogging, checking facebook, on twitter, etc. To simply disappear from social networks and ignore good online discussion is not something this chatty mama is cut out for. Cocooning for an extended period of time off-line with my kiddos wouldn’t really work for me. And last I checked, my inbox didn’t get the memo that I’m on maternity leave.
In the last few days I’ve had both a radio and magazine interview. We like Mabel to get some airtime so an interview request is not the time to pull maternity leave rank – save that for when you want to guiltlessly forward annoying sales messages to your colleagues.
All things considered, my maternity leave rocks – I do what I like and ditch what I don’t. Not a bad gig really. But everyone has a different idea of what works for them.
I know one woman who was enjoying a long and successful legal and academic career when she gave birth for the first time at 43-years-old. When I was at Law School I would occasionally come across her articles which were nearly impossible to read – she spoke an entirely different language and it certainly didn’t involve words like “lactation” and “play date”. The transition from working world to mama world was too great a leap for her – she only lasted two weeks before heading back into the traditional workforce.
I know other mamas in similar situations who take great pleasure in retiring their blackberries for the full maternity leave then reluctantly blow the dust off them when it’s time to head back.
There is no right answer to what consitutes the perfect maternity leave. I’m officially heading back to Mabel life in September. After having six kids under foot all summer, the return to work will likely be a nice break from my maternity leave!
photo #1 – yes, checking my blackberry from my hospital bed
photo #2 – on the Enterprise Toronto panel last week. Finian at three weeks old was the youngest entrepreneur in attendance. Can you see the little guy on my lap?
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January 26th, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
C’mon, you fancy a weekend in Chicago with me, don’t you?
In July, I’ll be heading to the BlogHer conference to hang out with some very cool bloggin‘ women. But I don’t want to go alone so you should join me – compliments of Mabel’s Labels!
The scoop is that Mabel’s Labels is having a contest to send a blogger to BlogHer ’09. Not only will we foot the bill, you’ll be the event’s chief correspondent on the Mabel’s Labels blog.
To learn more about the conference, check out:
www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf
To find out how to enter the contest and to get all the exciting deets, go here:
http://www.blogcontest.mabel.ca/
And if you’re not a blogger yet but have been meaning to get started, let this be your motivation!
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January 18th, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
Can anyone ever forget that creepy feeling they got when watching Rebecca De Mornay’s nanny character breastfeeding the baby in ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’? Well, kinda creepy. Those of us with chronic milk supply issues have been known to scream out “where’s that crazy breast-feeding nanny when you need her?” as we scan the want ads for a wet nurse.
That movie title comes from an expression that long acknowledges that mamas are powerful. Shaping the next generation is a big job but our power does not stop there. A recent article in the New York Times quotes a study confirming what we have long known at Mabel’s Labels – mamas can make or break your business. More than ever, women are making the buying decisions for families and looking to each other (and not advertising) for information on products. Mama customers are a force to be reckoned with and you had better serve up top quality product and customer service. If you don’t, a mama can take you down with one blog post and no amount of advertising will dig you out of that hole.
Mamas have solid social networks and a strong online presence where we are willing to share our opinions about everything from what stroller we like best to how many cup sizes we’ve dropped since finishing breastfeeding.
A couple of months ago Motrin got it ALL wrong with the mamas when they put out an ad that slammed baby wearing. That advertisement will likely go down as a case study in the “Do Nots” of marketing classes everywhere. The ad received a strong response: mamas everywhere were talking about it on their blogs, twitter and mama message boards. There was a mad flurry of outrage that caused immediate ad removal and apology. But, it was too little too late – the mamas had spoken and the result is what is now known as “Motrin-gate”.
To see the ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO6SlTUBA38
If the ad has enraged you, here’s the spoof to cheer you up:
The moral of the story – don’t go messing with the mamas. We are a powerful online force who will voice our objections all over the Internet. Sadly, the folks at Motrin learned the lesson about the hand that rocks the cradle the hard way. We are mamas, and you don’t want to hear us roar!
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May 31st, 2007
Written by: Julie Cole
Ok – Mabel’s Labels is a web-based business, so I do my best to stay current on what’s going on out there in the web-world. But, for this techno-peasant, that is a big undertaking. I’m learning (OK, Mumby’s forcing me to learn) about podcasting, blogging, etc, etc. but I’m truly fascinated by this whole facebook phenomenon.
A while ago I started getting emails from people requesting to be my friend so I got myself set up on Facebook, but I’m left with a few questions about the point.
First off, I think facebook is just what used to be my old ‘contacts’ list but with pictures. Oh, and with the ability to be a bit nosey, which is a problem because if I had no self-control that could eat up a lot of valuable time. And is it just me, or does anyone really have an interest in someone’s status? I just can’t see myself popping onto facebook several times a day to update people on what I had for lunch.
I also have a pet peeve….I got a friend request from someone I have not seen in 25 years! Yes, that long. His message was “what’s new?” Is that serious…as if I can sum up 25 years in a few lines?
OK Mumby, Facebook……what am I missing?
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May 28th, 2007
Written by: admin
Mabel’s Labels is thrilled to be entering the world of e-communities. Once I started blogging, the door was open for more, more, more! We’re going to begin a podcast in June, we’ve posted some of our recent TV appearances to youtube… exciting! Check it out. If you have any suggestions or tips for this type of communication, we’d love to hear it info@mabel.ca
It’s all new to us, and we’ll likely make lots of mistakes, but hey – at least it’s real!
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