Quick Tips for the Surrogacy Agency-A Thoughtful Gift for Your Surrogates

Are you thinking of something that your new surrogates would like for Christmas or Hanukkah? How about a great book written just for the children of surrogate mothers?Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow! is the heartfelt story of a family who decides to help a couple start of family of their own through gestational surrogacy. This book acts as an educational tool for children of gestational surrogates to better understand what their mothers are going through and the tremendous gift of family. Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow is the perfect gift for anytime of the year. (I offer bulk discounts if you are interested. Just contact Sharon LaMothe at LaMotheServices@aol.com for more details!)

Quick Tip for Surrogacy Agency Owners- Surround Yourself with Awesome People!

Build up the people around you. Surround Yourself with Awesome People. Feed off of the energy that successful people bring to the table. Be positive and be in the position where you are always willing to listen and learn.

Quick Tips for Surrogacy Agency Owners-If You Are Struggling Call for Help

Just because you are struggling does not mean you are failing BUT if you don't get some help THEN you WILL fail. Recognize when you need to call someone in to give you a hand. Even if you have to hire your kids to lighten your load around the house so you can concentrate on your business, do that! You can't do it alone. So ask for Help! (LaMothe Services is a great place to ask if you need assistance with your marketing, social networking, exhibiting, blogging and more!)

Quick Tips for Surrogacy Agency Owners- Running Your Own Agency Isn't Easy!

Owning your own agency isn't easy. It isn't simple. It isn't a hobby or something you do in your "spare time". There is a lot involved in a surrogacy journey. If you were/are a surrogate or an Intended Parent and want to "do things better" or "offer a better experience" you can...but remember you only know the part of the journey that affected you. What you need to learn are both sides of the coin of the surrogacy experience and then everything in between: the mental health component, the legalities in the USA, the recommendations of the ASRM, FDA and the ethics that everyone should be aware of. Have you thought of the paper work, the marketing, the advertising, or how you get paid? Do you understand the complexities of the relationship between the families involved in a surrogacy match? What about back ground checks, mediation and medications? Research your options and then come talk to LaMothe Services. We are here to help you reach your goal of helping others! 

Quick Tips for Surrogacy Agency Owners- Novice (Surrogacy/Egg Donation) Agency Owners Often Ignore Signs They Are Headed For Disaster

New Agency Owners can improve their odds by avoiding some of the common mistakes that hound those who seek to buy or start their own businesses. A few of those mistakes include:

• Starting an agency for the wrong reasons. Some people are drawn to owning an agency because they like the image that being an entrepreneur evokes – someone who is rich, famous, smart with lots of free time. That’s not exactly the best motivation, and the image they have in mind isn't going to mean a lot when the reality of what it takes to succeed sinks in. Often, these people are good at the technical work they do but ill-equipped to create, run and grow a agency.

• Taking advice from the wrong people. Anyone launching a new agency or buying an existing business or franchise definitely needs advice. But that advice should come from people most qualified to give it, and that’s not necessarily Aunt Stella or your friends from college. New agency owners need to make sure they have wise and learned people weighing in on each component of their business but it needs to be the right people. A lawyer shouldn't give advice on the balance sheet, and the accountant shouldn't weigh in on growth strategy.

• Underestimating the time requirements. Most would-be new surrogacy or egg donation owners probably assume they will work long hours. They are wrong. They won't work long hours. They will work long, long, long hours. Outside of an act of God or just blind good fortune, business owners work more hours than any other category of employment. That can take a toll. The good news is that, as the boss, you can come and go as you please, so I also recommend setting aside time for yoga and meditation. That will help keep you fit and perhaps relieve some of the stress that is especially high in the early weeks and months of starting your own agency.

These points are just the tip of the iceberg and that is why LaMothe (business consulting) Services are designed and developed to support your dream of owning your own agency. When you make an appointment for a free consultation, all information gathered is then formulated into a program specifically designed to resolve problem issues using LaMothe Services as your partner. We are willing to sign non-disclosure documents to make you feel comfortable in allowing us to assist you in managing and solving your most delicate business problems.

LaMothe Services specializes in Surrogacy and Egg Donation agencies and other Third Party Family Building Companies. We can also assist other businesses with customer service, organizational, social networking and marketing support issues. Call 727-458-8333 or e-mail LaMotheServices@aol.com for your free 40 minute phone consultation. Ask about our Fall Special that will end on November 30th. I look forward to hearing from YOU!

Quick Tips for Surrogacy Agency Owners- Remember that YOU are the Walking Advertisement for Your Surrogacy Agency!

Remember this statement below. It is so important, now that you own your own agency, to be that inspiration to others...to instill confidence in your ability to guide and manage a surrogacy journey. Be your own wonderful self even when you are away from your office. 

This Is Your Last Chance to Take Advantage of the LaMothe Services Fall Special for New Surrogacy Agency Owners

Fall Special!

Calling all entrepreneurs! LaMothe Services is offering a Fall Special that will have you running your own business before you know it!

Are you interested in owning and operating your own Surrogacy Agency but don't know where to start? Have you been entertaining the idea of becoming your own boss? Are you a 'people person' and have knowledge of the third party family building field? LaMothe Services can help you formulate a plan and assist you in building your business to it's full potential. E-mail LaMotheServices@aol.com to set up your free 40 minute consult and learn more about our Fall special!

Surrogacy Business Development Fall Special Includes:
15 hours of e-mail/phone consultation
Website Development
Business card and brochure design
25-30 forms and documents to start your own business including examples of retainer agreements, contracts, matching protocols, recruiting ideas, check lists and relationship management guidance.

The Fall Special ends on November 30th, 2015

Now Is As Good A Time As Any....To Ask for Help!

Now are you ready? Contact me and we can see what the future holds! My Fall Special is running until the end of the month! Check it out by clicking HERE! 

Quick Tips for the Surrogacy Agency Owner -Surrogacy Well Being

I recommend to ALL agencies that I work with (And practiced this myself when I owned an agency) that there is at least 6 to 8 weeks of follow up from the surrogacy agency with each and every Gestational Carrier after her delivery. Call, e-mail, visit if possible. Make sure that she is feeling better and getting back to her own life. Encourage the IPs to check in and share in her healing. This statement is so true and important!

7 Tools to Get Free Publicity for Your Business By: Lisa Furgison

As a business owner, you want to publicize your business without breaking the bank. In fact, few small business owners have much of an advertising budget, or a public relations manager. That’s okay. There are plenty of ways to attract customers online, if you know where to look. 

Of course, who has time to sift through websites looking for publicity options? Certainly not a small business owner with 101 items on his or her to-do list. To help, we've put together a list of seven free online tools that you can use to publicize your business.

1. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

This free online tool is a great place to connect with reporters looking for sources. When a reporter needs a source for a particular article, he or she puts out a query asking for people with certain knowledge or experience to respond. If a reporter likes your response, you could land an interview for a story. Usually that means you’ll be quoted in the story with a link back to your website.

Collin Jarman, a digital analyst for marketing agency, COCG, uses the site and says it’s his go-to spot for free publicity.

“It’s a great tool that allows experts to share their knowledge with those it might help,” he says.

2. EzineArticles

With EzineArticles you can write a high quality blog post and share it on EzineArticles.com. Email newsletter publishers scroll through these articles looking for fresh content to mail out and could include your article in their next newsletter. These publishers often have large email lists, so if your article is selected your content could be seen by a sizable audience.

You can also include a resource box at the end of your article with links back to your website. The site does set quality expectations, so plan to turn in your best stuff.

3. Online directories

Gone are the days of searching for a business in the phone book. Now, people turn to search engines for answers. You want to make sure that your business is “findable” online. To help people find your business, make sure it’s listed in several online directories. These directories house pertinent information like your location and phone number. Yellow Pages, MerchantCircle and SuperPages.com are great places to start.

For a full list of online directories, check out “The Top 20 Places Your Business Needs to be Listed Online.”

4. Google My Business

If you haven’t checked out Google My Business, it’s worth your time. It’s similar to an online directory, but it has more bells and whistles. Through this tool, you set up a business profile page. You put in your vital business information like location, store hours, contact information and photos. When someone Google’s your business, they’ll see something like this:  

It’s a nice digital ad for your business. Plus, Google My Business works with Google+ so you can integrate your social media page with it. Customers can also leave and read reviews. Like we said, lots of bells and whistles. Overall, a handy tool.

5. Local calendar of events

Have an event coming up that could use some publicity? Visit the websites of your local TV stations and newspapers. A lot of news organizations have a free community calendar. You can submit the details through an online form like this and your event is added to a regional calendar.

6. Contact Any Celebrity

Getting a celebrity endorsement for your product would be a huge coup. Believe it or not, there’s actually a website out there that can help you contact celebrities. There’s a free seven-day trial for Contact Any Celebrity. You get access to a database of 60,000 celebrities. Typically, the contact information is to a celebrity’s agent or publicist, but it’s still valuable information.

Some celebrities participate in a “gift program” too. You send a celebrity your product as a free gift, and in return you could get a review that you can use to market your product.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll hear back from the A-list star, but you do have access to a long Rolodex. After the seven-day trial period, there is a monthly membership charge, so use the free trial to your advantage.

7. Your company blog

One of the best strategies to gain free publicity is to invest time in a company blog. By writing articles that your customers can learn from, you’ll start to gain traction with customers and other industry leaders.

It’s more of a long term publicity strategy, but one that will pay off as you grow your audience, Jarman says.

“Figure out what kind of questions you can answer for your customers and turn those questions into blog topics,” he suggests. “The more help you can offer people, the more trust you’ll build.”

You can share your content via email and social media.

Bonus publicity tool: PRWeb

There’s one other publicity tool that’s worth a look: PRWeb. We’ve listed it as a bonus tool because it’s not free.

PRWeb is a press release distribution channel. When something new and exciting happens at your business, write a press release and share it on PRWeb. This site hosts your press release, and distributes it to news outlets and search engines.

When your business rolls out a new product, wins an award, partners with a big name client or gives back to the community, you can create a press release on the site and track its progress. Analyticstell you how many people saw it, how many links were clicked and how often it was shared on social media.

You pay for each press release that you want distributed. Plans start at $99/press release.

Do you know of another publicity tool you like use? Tell us about it in the comment section below.