Morning Beauty

Los Angeles has four seasons; Hot High Winds, Hellacious Fire, Oven Heat, and Deluge Rains.

Upon waking up this morning in the middle of Deluge Rain season, I thought I would show that it looks like from our backyard at 6:30AM.

The trees are bare, the fog has rolled in and we are in day 2 of the rainy season.  Please note the the Ash tree on the right just lost its leaves in the last week and will begin sprouting new growth first of  February.  The Maple on the left lost all it's leaves right after New Year's and will begin sprouting in March.  Our seasons are short and to the point.
Unlike those beautiful landscape pictures of red, yellows and orange falls or the snow-covered car in the driveway, this is most likely the only 'winter scene' day we will have here in Los Angeles.

So I will enjoy this quiet morning with a cup of coffee and the Jake the cat on my lap. 

We control $4.3 Trillion in consumer spending!

The numbers are in and the facts are clear: Women control $4.3 TRILLION of the US Consumer spending. And WE WANT IT OUR WAY!!!

“The Rise of the Real Mom,” a white paper authored by Marissa Miley and Ann Mack and published by Advertising Age  took a good look at the mothers of today. They named it well as a Google search brought up 14Million searches for  'real mom'. I believe that the words will gallop into the lexicon of US English.

This is the most fascinating report as it covers the wide range of women aged 18 to 65. It identifies the percentage rise in education (YEAH) and the new expectations of the mothers who are also workers, careerists and fully in charge of their families.

A few facts:

Moms still do the majority of wet tasks (dishes, laundry, cleaning the bathrooms) while men stick to the dry jobs (driving children to school, making lunches, taking out the garbage).
Moms juggle far more in terms of activities than men
Have higher stress than men

Nice to have all this confirmed. I can assure that any wet task performed by men leave a bigger mess than when performed by women. So women know, “it’s just easier if I do it myself.”

VERY IMPORTANT FACT: Pragmatism and control rules the day!

To reach this real mom, marketers need not just to communicate that the
goods and services they offer are practical and convenient; they also need
to make real moms feel confident and in charge.

Let’s repeat that: practical and a sense of control! We are pressed for time, driving the kids to and fro (I clocked 100 miles one day), work, planning, homework, with little time left to breathe and think. The products today need to be easy to buy, pay for, receive and install!So in what categories do women exercise the practical and sense of control? Not surprisingly, it is vertical market specific.

Real Moms influence the buying decisions in these categories:

Personal Care 67%
Clothing 64%
Cosmetics 61%

Spouses and Partners have greater influence on buying decisions in these categories:

Electronics  45%
Cars 46%
Restaurants 42%


If you sell to women, how do you, as a business owner, sell to the ‘real moms’? Start with a look at your service or product and assess whether it appeals to this demographic. Next, how can you make it as easy as possible for real moms to buy from you? Third, look at your marketing materials and does it include the ideas of easy, practical and control?

With a few changes can you make the delivery of your product practical and easier to use? Can you do a bit of rewriting the marketing verbiage you have on your web site to reflect the concept of control, practicality, and time saving for your real mom client?

A quick personal experience to bring this info home: I wrote a twitter to promote my workbook on elevator pitches. It stated: Real moms: Easy, at your command, the ‘how to’ on creating an elevator pitch http://tinyurl.com/yfhess5

The results have been great!

Socks

I have been running around barefoot all summer long. I love barefoot as I can really feel dirt or grass or carpet between my toes. I love walking from a warm carpet to a cool kitchen floor on a hot summer's day. And most of all, I love digging my toes in the sand while sitting on the beach, watching the family surf the waves.

So when I recently put on a pair of socks for the first time in 4 months, I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful they felt. I mean really surprised. They were soft and warm and cushiony in my gardening shoes. Ohhhh...... how sweet it is.

My daughter #2 knows the sweetness of socks. Last winter she posted a sign on the refrigerator door. To it was pinned one gray sock with the following message:

"Lost Sock. Please help me find this sock. Reward, $6.79. Very important sock. My feet are cold."

I went to my chiropractor, Dr. Dana Zappala (drdanazappala.com) today for an adjustment. I noticed she was wearing Uggs. Now mind you, it is 89 degrees outside and Los Angeles is headed for another Santa Ana dry hot wind with temps spiking up to 101 degrees.

Why the Uggs, I ask? Apparently her home was fogged in this morning and she was chilled. She wanted to feel snuggly and cozy and warm up her bones. It threw us both into "wanting winter" so we spoke about oncoming winter fog, cold winds and socks.

Her eyes lite up and she said, pointing to her Uggs, "I am wearing socks and it feel sooooo good!" She knows the sweetness of socks.

With winter coming on, I decided to match up all the irregulars in my drawers. Had 26 socks and only got to six full pairs. Well I guess the washing machine and dryer also know the sweetness of socks.

By the way, D#2 found the sock herself and kept her reward.

Shut it Down!!

"Shut it Down" is the familiar call by so many parents this summer. Every one I spoke to has a similar story about their teenager and a party. Let me state that I delight being around my 16-year old teenager. She clears her dinner plate, does her own laundry and talks to us more than most. I am lucky.

Except when it comes to parties. Summer parties. Facebook, twitter, text-fueled guest-list party. The kind of parties that are not normal, unreal and out of control.

She wanted to throw a party. For "as many as possible, mom".

Apparently the new standard for a party is "as many as possible," otherwise it's "so gay". Aside from the heated discussion of "so gay" is NOT OK, daughter #1 was mad we limited her party to 40 people and no facebook invites, no strangers and no text guests. She.... was... pissed.

Well - 90 people showed up. All from the texting, texting, and more texting by each and every kid who showed up, walked in and thought WOW, this is happening.

Hubby and I did a walk through to make sure all was well. OMG!! Kids were everywhere!

There were kids smoking in the back patio up against a hill full of dry brush! Some were in the trees and jammed in the den dancing to the music. My husband found a fifth of VODKA in the bushes and I discovered a young couple "making out" in the ONE bathroom while the rest of the kids pounded on the door to be let in!

And that is just a few of things that happened. I am editing so I don't loose your interest.

We shut the party down. Called the parents of a drunk girl and chased the kids off our land and the neighborhood. This party lasted all of 2 hours.

The next day it was discovered that the bouncer made off with ALL the money. Thus the DJ was not paid and I was not reimbursed for what I laid out.

Then I heard about my friend Robert's experience. His son threw a party for 100 people. No problem, plenty of room at his house to accommodate the crowd. Within 1.5 hours Robert called the POLICE on HIMSELF. They swooped in with helicopters and cruisers. The estimate was 3,000 people on-premise and within the vicinity of his house. 3,000 people!!!

The bouncer, true to the nature of the business, was busy taking the agreed $5.00 contribution for those on the list. But he collected $25.00 per non-listed kid through the side gate. This enterprising bouncer pocketed each and every $25.00 "contribution."

One party got out of hand within an hour. Neighbors called the parents, who were not home, to "come home quick." The father got out of his car, calmly cut off the music and grabbed his bullhorn and began "evacuating" his house of full of strangers. He got resistance from the 17-year old boys. They asked, "Who in the H**L are YOU?"

One grandmother, allowing her house to be used for a party, was seen chasing a girl around the pool to grab the bottle of liquor out of her hands. Party shut down within 1.5 hours.

So I wonder about the "why" of it all. Why the need to throw such big parties each and every time? I have come up up with this theory: It's all the parents fault.

We all threw them elaborate birthday parties for each and every year of their precious lives. Disney characters, bouncies and making sure to invite entire classrooms of preschoolers or 3 classrooms of elementary age (or god forbid should one child get their feelings hurt,) peers. Huge party favors that cost more than the gifts received with the venues being more expensive and elaborate each year. Do you blame our over indulged teenagers?

Well I don't, so here is my mea culpa!