How To Start Your Own Baby Food Business Part #5: Fresh, Organic, and Local

How To Start Your Own Baby Food Business Part #5: Fresh, Organic, and Local
Of course, you don't have to make fresh, organic, and local
underlining values of your baby food business. Perhaps
these attributes are not as important to parents in your
area. However, as I have already shown you, the market for
products that have these qualities is growing rapidly. And
the fact that your baby food is fresh, organic, and local
is unlikely to turn people off. But you may loose
potential customers if your food doesn't have at least one
of these attributes.

Why Organic Foods For Babies?

-Existing regulations on the amount of pesticide residues
that non-organic foods may contain are based on
'acceptable' levels for adult consumption. Babies and
young children are at greater risk because the immaturity
of their body systems makes them more vulnerable to toxins.
-Because children's diet is often restricted to just a few
types of less processed food- like apples, potatoes,
carrots ' they may receive higher exposure to toxins.
-From conception until one year of age, children are at
their most vulnerable. During this critical stage of
development cells are multiplying at their peak, yet the
body has limited diet to draw upon.
-A baby's digestive system is also more efficient that that
of an adult at absorbing foods, enabling nutrients to be
used more quickly, but also making the body more vulnerable
to toxins. Immature kidneys are not as proficient at
excreting harmful substances, so they may circulate in the
body for a longer period of time.
-No one knows what effect genetic engineering may have on
food products and the health of those who consume them. So
the best way to protect yourself and your baby from
possible problems is to choose organic. Organic baby foods
are produced without genetically modified ingredients.

Why Local Foods For Babies?

-Eating local means more for the local economy. According
to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a
dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the
local economy. When businesses are not owned locally,
money leaves the community at every transaction.
-Locally grown produce is fresher. While produce that is
purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in
transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you
purchase at your local farmer's market has often been
picked within 24 hours of your purchase. This freshness
not only affects the taste of your food, but the
nutritional value which declines with time.
-Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen.
Because the produce will be handled less, locally grown
fruit does not have to be "rugged" or to stand up to the
rigors of shipping. This means that you are going to be
getting peaches so ripe that they fall apart as you eat
them, figs that would have been smashed to bits if they
were sold using traditional methods and melons that were
allowed to ripen until the last possible minute on the vine.
-Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than
eating organic. In a March 2005 study by the journal Food
Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often
travels to our plate creates environmental damage that
outweighs the benefit of buying organic.
-Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism. Food with
less distance to travel from farm to plate has less
susceptibility to harmful contamination.
-Supporting local providers supports responsible land
development. When you buy local, you give those with local
open space - farms and pastures - an economic reason to
stay open and undeveloped.

Sources:
-Trading places: the local economic impact of street
produce and farmer's markets, New Economics Foundation,
November 2005.
-Farm costs and food miles: An assessment of the full cost
of the weekly food basket, Food Policy, Volume 30, Issue 1,
February 2005, Pages 1-19.
-"New Rules to Beat Food Terrorism", Associated Press, Dec
6, 2004.

----------------------------------------------------
Mischelle (Schelly) Weedman-Davis left her 15-year
high-tech career to become a stay-at-home mom but later
became the founder of Sprouts Baby Food, Inc. She now uses
her talents to support her husband's Seattle law firm, the
Davis Law Group so she can spend more time with her family.
http://www.InjuryTrialLawyer.com . But she remains
committed to infant nutrition and helping others that want
to start their own baby food business.

Seven Words You Cannot Say In Sales

Seven Words You Cannot Say In Sales
In the early 70's, George Carlin created quite a stir with
his comedic "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television." So
much so, that his original routine is still talked about
today. His choices were funny to some and grossly
offensive to others. The fact remains, that despite a
steady decline in moral standards on television, those
seven words remain off-limits to this day, at least on
network television.

Our word choices and uses are important. They often convey
our level of intelligence and understanding to others.
Incorrect usage of words displays ignorance, causing others
not to take us seriously. Words help to create pictures in
our minds. This is critically important, especially in
selling, where perception often means everything. "What you
are doing speaks so loudly, that I cannot hear what you are
saying." says Ralph Waldo Emerson. One might re-phrase that
expression to say "I hear what you are saying, but I
understand what I am perceiving."

The following words depict negativity and are perceived by
your customers as evasive, uncaring, non-interested and
non-committal. Trust me, if you are being perceived in this
manner, you have already dug yourself into a deep hole and
further speech will likely bury you. Lose these seven
immediately:

1. forgot

2. blame

3. excuse

4. can't

5. don't-care

6. won't-do

7. no

People want to be part of business and personal
relationships where they feel they have importance and
matter to the other person. Is that not what you want?
There is no place for words or a mindset such as these on
the journey towards success. These seven words represent
apathy and self-serving, traits that seldom lead to sales
growth. It is not only these exact words but the attitudes
behind them that must be eliminated.

Development of superior selling skills begins with sincere
interest in others. It begins with having the genuine
desire to be of service. Our customers not only expect
these but demand them as well. It is the base of what will
develop into a relationship.

We are in the early stages of another presidential election
season. There are seldom more opportunities to witness
words, intentions and records more highly scrutinized than
right now. Will President Clinton ever live down his
scrutiny of the word "the" in defense of his actions? Learn
from seeing how words will surely be separated from
context, twisted and edited to mean something totally new.
"What did you mean when you said...?" will be a commonly
asked politically-charged question.

Choose your words carefully. Mean what you say. Forget
vulgarity. Forget off-color humor. Forget clouded meanings.
Be direct in your communications so that your customer
knows exactly what you can, cannot and will do for them.
Make certain that they thoroughly understand your
intentions and expectations. This is where integrity
shines. Clear word choices lead to clear communication
which in turn leads to satisfying relationships. Choose
your words carefully and win.

----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit and
Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive
experience in sales, training, marketing and personal
development spanning a successful 25 year career.
Experience his blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com

Write Articles That Get Noticed

Write Articles That Get Noticed
If you are article marketing, but not finding any success
in doing so, you might not be doing it correctly. Almost
anyone can write articles, but writing ones that drive
targeted traffic to your website is the challenge. How do
you interest potential customers in what you have to say?
And, once they are interested in your article, how do you
drive them to your site and possibly convert them into
customers? The following are some tips that will help you
to master the art of article marketing.

(1) Put yourself in your customer's shoes. What
information about your product or service would be helpful
to your customers? If you were your customer, what types
of things would you want to learn? Write about those
things. Answering frequently asked questions, or solving
problems that your target market is likely to have, will
make you look like an expert in the eyes of your reader,
and people are more likely to buy from someone they view as
an expert in their field.

(2) Find the keywords that your clients will likely search
for when looking for information on your product or
service. Even if your website doesn't rank well with the
search engines, an article that makes good use of keywords
might. Be sure that your keywords appear frequently in
your article without reducing the quality of the writing.

(3) Don't misspell or misuse words. Use a spellchecker and
a dictionary. In particular, watch for frequently misused
words that might not get picked up by a checker, such as
"there" versus "their", and "then" versus "than". An
article that is littered with misspelled or misplaced words
will not look professional and this will reflect on you.
If there are multiple mistakes within an article, readers
will view it as poor quality and will not value its
content, even if it contains high caliber information.
Also, a well written article is much more likely to be
picked up by individuals looking for quality content for
their ezines and newsletters that could potentially be sent
out to hundreds or even thousands of readers.

(4) Have someone proofread your articles. Proofreading
your own articles simply is not enough. Often you miss
typos and errors because your mind knows what is supposed
to be written, and thus overlooks mistakes. Have a trusted
friend or colleague proofread your article and ask them for
feedback. They may be able to point out things that you
haven't made clear, or things that you hadn't thought of
mentioning. If you don't know anyone willing to take on
this task, consider outsourcing. Many Virtual Assistants
offer proofreading and editing as a service.

(5) Use a thesaurus. Frequently repeating the same words
throughout your article will make it seem as though little
thought or effort went into its creation. You don't have
to litter an article with big words in order to sound
intelligent, in fact the easier the article is to read, the
better, but at the same time, it shouldn't be dull.
Repeating the same words again and again simply makes for a
monotonous read.

(6) Practice makes perfect. The more you write, the easier
it becomes and before you know it, the words will flow.

Using some or all of the above advice, almost anyone can
find success through article marketing. A well written and
informative article will drive highly targeted traffic to
your website. Combine these simple steps with your
expertise and you will be capable of creating articles that
get noticed.

----------------------------------------------------
Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and Owner of Virtually
There VA Services. To sign up for her free newsletter
providing useful information that enhances and simplifies
the lives of busy entrepreneurs, visit her website at =>
http://www.virtuallythereva.com .

Can You Answer These Four Questions?

Can You Answer These Four Questions?
WHAT are you selling? WHY are you in this business? WHO are
you marketing to? HOW are you marketing?

The answers to these four questions can make or break your
network marketing business. You need to be clear about the
answers yourself, AND you need to be able to convey those
answers to your prospects.

Of course, it's obvious to you WHAT you're selling, and you
probably have a pretty clear idea of WHY you're selling
what you're selling. (Something to do with a beach house in
Jamaica, right? Or is it Maui?)

I'll bet you're really good at explaining the WHAT when
you're recruiting, too, giving out an abundance of info on
your products and services, your company, and your
compensation plan.

I'll also bet you know that to be an effective enroller,
you need to explore your prospect's WHY, encouraging her to
open up and share with you all her frustrations, hopes, and
dreams. You want your new recruit to be motivated, after
all. And you want to be able to demonstrate how your
opportunity can help solve her frustrations, and turn her
hopes and dreams into reality.

This is all good.

But when we come to the WHO and the HOW, many network
marketers fall flat on their faces.

Your prospect needs to be able to see herself doing this
business. She wants to know exactly HOW she's going to
market your company's products and opportunity and WHO
she's going to sell them to.

I'm sure a prospect has asked you this before. "What,
exactly, will I be doing?"

What do you tell her?

If you give her the usual lame explanation that she'll be
"sharing" with her "warm" market of family and friends and
that she needs to make a list of everyone she knows right
away, chances are you're going to lose her.

Anyone who's already done network marketing or whose
brother-in-law or coworker ever hounded her to join a
business is already hip to the fact that this approach will
take her down the road to humiliation and social isolation.
No one wants this.

Plus, there's the dirty little secret that out of all the
highly successful people in network marketing, hardly any
of them got there by recruiting friends and relatives. I'm
not saying it never happens, but in general, you can't rely
on the warm market strategy to get you where you want to
go. And recommending it to your prospects just compounds
the problem.

So what IS the HOW? And who IS the WHO?

What will you tell your prospect if you don't really know
the answers to these questions yourself?

To cast some clarity on this, let's take a look at another
group of professionals - real marketers. In other words,
professional business people who actually make a living
marketing products and services.

You don't see them hitting on their family and friends. Or
putting flyers on windshields, or tacking up posters on
coffee shop bulletin boards, or dropping their business
cards in restrooms, or inviting their neighbors over for
product parties.

This is the scatter-shot,
if-I-just-shoot-enough-bullets-in-that-general-direction-may
be-I'll-eventually-hit-a-duck approach. You're going to run
out of ammo long before you see any results. You do these
things if you want a hobby, not a business.

On the other hand, professional marketers know exactly WHO
makes up their target market - people who already see a
need and have a desire for the marketer's products or
services. Their HOW uses laser-focused, thoroughly tested
strategies to reach that target market.

If your goal is really to have a business that will allow
you to quit your J.O.B, to allow you to retire comfortably,
to give you the lifestyle of your dreams... then you need
to treat it as a real business and start using the
marketing strategies that real, successful businesses use.

You need to discover how professional marketers reach
thousands of prospects and sift and sort and qualify them
so they only talk to the best ones?

If you find out how to do that, and teach it to your
downline, what will that do for your organization?

I realize -- it takes digging, and researching, and lots of
reading to learn real, effective marketing techniques.
Fortunately, you'll find plenty of resources out there to
help you. And when you're done with your basic research,
you'll want to try things out and experiment to see what
works best for your business.

You may experience a very steep and exhilarating learning
curve for a while. But believe me, you'll think it's SO
worth it when you've joined the ranks of the really
successful network marketers and you're sipping Mai-tai's
in Maui.

----------------------------------------------------
Would you like to get started learning effective 21st
Century marketing techniques today? Liz Monte is offering
a 7-part mini-course designed to cover all the basics. It's
called "Attraction Marketing for Networkers," and you can
enroll for free at http://www.wisenetworkmarketer.com . Liz
Monte writes on a variety of topics of interest to network
marketers.

How To Start Your Own Baby Food Business Part #6: Manufacturing vs. Catering

How To Start Your Own Baby Food Business Part #6: Manufacturing vs. Catering
Handmade Baby Food vs. Commercially Produced, Store Bought
Baby Food

Food from your baby food catering business will be
differentiated from commercial, factory produced baby food
in the following ways:

People & Production

Your baby food is made-by-hand by individuals who are
committed to the quality of the baby food. At least one
certified chef is on duty at all times supervising the
process and ensuring that ingredient and cooking standards
are met. The food is made in a state-of-the-art commercial
kitchen like the ones used by top chefs.

Commercial baby food is produced in mass in a factory or
co-packing facility. More often than not, baby food is not
the only food product produced in the facility. Typically
baby food is made by workers that do not have culinary
training and do not have a passion or commitment to high
quality baby food.

Hand Selection of Ingredients

Each and every ingredient in your baby food, down to the
smallest berry, is hand selected to ensure that it is of
the highest quality and to make sure that it is completely
ripe.

Commercial baby food is made from massive deliveries of
bulk produce that arrive on loading docks. Food quickly
passes by workers on conveyer belts—there is little
time for manual inspection.

Source & Quality

The majority of the ingredients in your baby food are
locally grown. They are picked only when fully ripe and go
from the field to our kitchen within a matter of days,
sometimes hours.

Produce used to make commercial baby food comes from
multiple sources and multiple countries. It is often
picked before fully ripened, to withstand the long
transport from the field to the factory. Sometimes produce
becomes over-ripe or rotten as it sits on trucks, in
warehouses, or on loading docks for days or weeks.

Organic

You use only 100% organic ingredients that are never stored
near other non-organic ingredients or produced alongside
non-organic foods.

Even foods that are made with organic ingredients can be
contaminated with pesticides when they are transported or
stored with or near non-organic ingredients or produced in
a facility that also makes non-organic food products.
Commercial baby food is often made in large factories or by
co-packers that also produce non-organic foods.

Washing

All of produce used in the production of your baby food is
individually washed or scrubbed by hand.

In commercial baby food factories, produce is either rinsed
as it passes under a sprayer on a conveyer belt or it may
be allowed to sit in a vat of water to be cleaned. Often
the process involves cleaning agents or chemicals.

Preparation

All the produce used in the production of your baby food is
peeled, cored, or diced by hand. This provides a second
inspection of the ingredient before cooking.

Produce used to make commercial baby food is peeled,
processed, and cut by machines in large batches. Seeds,
stems, rotten spots, etc. can easily go over looked and may
be included in the final product.

Cooking

The majority of your baby food made using produce that has
been gently steamed to ensure that the vitamins and
nutrients are not "cooked out" of the food. This process
also helps the food to retain its natural color. Some
foods are baked or roasted whole to ensure that the natural
juices are retained.

Commercial baby food is boiled in large vats or cooked
quickly in giant, super heated ovens. Both processes are
designed to cook the food as quickly as possible so large
amounts can be produced at once. The food must be cooked
at high enough temperatures to be sterilized in order for
it to sit in a warehouse or on a store shelf for long
periods of time. Essential nutrients and natural colors
are lost. Vitamins and color must be added back into the
food. This is accomplished using either synthetic
materials or fruit/vegetable concentrates or dyes. Some
food dyes are made using ground insects.

Processing

Your baby food is pureed in small batches which are weighed
and measured by hand. Each batch is checked and rechecked
to ensure a smooth or creamy texture.

Commercial baby food is ground in large, industrial vats.
Sometimes tons of food is processed at once.

Texture

You add only a small amount of distilled water to your
food—just enough to allow for a smooth puree.
Because we add such a small amount of water, there is no
need to add thickening agents.

Large amounts of water are added to commercial baby food to
"thin it out". This allows the company to get more baby
food out of each pound of produce (water is cheap) thus
increasing company profits while nutritionally cheating
babies. Thickening agents, such as starch, are then added
(starch is cheap too). Thickening agents also "stabilize"
factory-made foods by keeping the complex mixtures of oils,
water, acids, and solids well mixed.

Quality Control

At every point in the cooking and pureeing process the
temperature of the food is checked and rechecked to ensure
that the correct temperature and consistency is being met.
Temperature is monitored during the cooking process to make
certain that vital vitamins and minerals are not "cooked
out", and as food is cooled to avoid pathogen growth.

Most of the production is often monitored by computers
rather than humans.

Packaging

Your baby food is packaged by a person, giving it one final
quality check.

Commercial baby food is packaged by big machines that
squirt food into jars or containers with no one overseeing
the process.

Freshness, No preservatives

Your stores/kitchen/etc.make fresh baby food daily. You
only make enough food to fulfill the needs of for the
current week. Your baby food is sold or delivered to
customers within 24 to 48 hours of being made. There is no
need to add preservatives and no food is wasted.

Commercial baby food is made in mass. Tens of thousands of
"units" of baby food are produced each day. Commercial
baby food can sit in a warehouse or on a store shelf for up
to 2 years. The companies must add chemical or natural
preservatives to keep the food from degrading. Even frozen
baby food in the grocery store can sit in the freezer for
months before it is sold.

----------------------------------------------------
Mischelle (Schelly) Weedman-Davis left her 15-year
high-tech career to become a stay-at-home mom but later
became the founder of Sprouts Baby Food, Inc. She now uses
her talents to support her husband's Seattle law firm, the
Davis Law Group so she can spend more time with her family.
http://www.InjuryTrialLawyer.com . But she remains
committed to infant nutrition and helping others that want
to start their own baby food business.