Hands down, Word of Mouth (WOM) advertising is the best kind you can get. A third-party endorsement is viewed as truthful. And if you've ever had a baby or been around someone who has, you know a pregnant woman or new mom is super receptive to good information (and sharing information).

Take a look at this article about new moms and Word of Mouth advertising.

Many scrapbooking customers are new moms or about to be new moms. The more you can service this group, the likelier that happy customers will tell other new moms about how great your store is.

Trust me, moms share info all the time: while hanging out at toddler birthday parties; in the organic food aisles of the supermarket; and standing in line at Sesame Place. And now moms do it through blogs. Complete strangers will wax eloquent about a particular ointment or a family friendly restaurant. And for some reason, we listen to what these complete strangers tell us!

So... how do you find more customers through your customers:

Mom-friendly shopping times- Do you have the ability to engage someone's kids while she is shopping? A friendly teenager who can do projects at a kid-sized table? You don't have to do this all the time, advertise that the service is available a few days a week from 3-5pm.

Juice boxes and snacks- You keep coffee and sodas for the moms, consider juice boxes and bags of Goldfish crackers, raisins or Teddy Grahams for the kids. No peanuts, no candy.

Drop-in Time- Promote times when your classroom tables are open and invite scrappers to drop in with no notice.

Phone orders & delivery- My friend shared this one. She called a local scrapbooking store looking for a particular product she wanted. "I have a sleeping baby in the car"- the owner said no problem- ran out to get the credit card then got her product. Now she is very loyal to that retailer.

Even if someone can phone in an order and pick it up- it makes a huge difference. Think of the stuff a mom needs to schlepp out of a car with kids in tow. Little luxuries like scrapbooking supplies will fall to the bottom of the list if it means taking that darn carrier out of the car again.

If you make it easy for moms they will share that information in playgroups and anywhere else other moms are present. Word of Mouth advertising can't be paid for. You have to earn it through service.--Beth