Babies ‘n Business, LLC: Corporate Lactation Programs & Resources
Small Business Success Story with the Social Web
Jane Balkam, PhD, APRN, CPNP, IBCLC, is a highly respected healthcare provider, Lactation Consultant, and Corporate Lactation Program pioneer based the DC metro area. As the founder of Babies ‘n Business, LLC, Jane provides support and consultation to breastfeeding mothers who are returning to work. She also runs Corporate Lactation Programs and offering Lactation Program Compliance Consults to her business clients. When healthcare laws changed to reflect the positive impact of supporting new mothers who want to return to work while breastfeeding, she decided that her existing business website was due for some changes as well.
Strategy: Take a staged approach to the transition to a successful web presence.
- Redesign her site to showcase the potential of her current offerings, include new services, and create a blog to help establish her site as a source of great information.
- Update the look of her company Facebook fan page.
- Upgrade the existing ecommerce section of her site to improve her customer’s shopping experience and back-end company processes.
Audience groups: Corporate HR personnel, Wellness Program Managers, Business Owners, and breastfeeding mothers
Challenges:
- Offer different, yet related, services to her corporate audience and to new mothers
- Become a resource site for both audience groups
- Incorporate social media into the company web presence and workflow
- Set the stage for business expansion and growth
The Team:
Web Strategy & Information Architecture: Jo Golden
Content Strategy & Creation: Jo Golden
Design: Mor Vimmer
Development: Tracey Holinka
Maintenance: Tracey Holinka
Jo began by developing a project strategy and web strategy then she mapped out the website structure (Information Architecture). Based on her goals and available time, Jane provided basic information needed for Jo to create the static page content for her site. Meanwhile they worked together to establish an appropriate voice for the site, to get Jane comfortable with blogging, and to help her understand the potential of re-purposing content across the Social Web.
Mor designed the site to appeal to a well-educated professional audience with straightforward navigation images that work for corporate and private clients. The color scheme is modern and the layout makes it easy for different audience groups to find the information they need very quickly.
Tracey developed the site first, and then redesigned the Babies ‘n Business Facebook fan page. The online store is currently being revised to offer a better shopping experience, more products, and simpler order fulfillment.
Jane wrote blog posts before the site went live so that Tracey could schedule them to go out during the first few weeks while Jane got more comfortable with the process. After Jane’s initial posts went up, a consultation with Jo helped her develop new approaches to her workflow, start using Facebook effectively, and get ready to take over. Using our how-to videos helped remind Jane of the basics of using a WordPress site (videos are updated regularly and available 24-7 for reference).
As Jane confidently moves her business into the future, a new web presence that reflects her brand will back her up every step of the way.
(February 2011)
