Hey, y'all! This episode is super special because not only will it be useful for moms out there, but we also officially have our first guest for 2019 on The Marketing Natives - Abbie Alter creator of Plano Moms! We were super excited to record this episode because Abbie is a good friend of ours and Plano Moms has built a really awesome community for all of the moms out there. So, in order to get to know Abbie and Plano Moms better, we asked her some interesting questions!

The Story Behind Plano Moms And How It Got Started

When Abbie moved to the United States five years ago, she didn't have that solid network that she had when she was back in England. With this in mind, she had a difficult time looking for mom's in her area that could answer the questions she had like asking where the best place was to take her kids for dentist checkups and which schools were the best. So in order to help other moms who were in the same situation just like herself, Abbie started the Plano Moms Talk group on Facebook. Here, she and other moms helped one another by answering questions about motherhood and their community.

The group was a hit! Soon thousands of moms in the Plano area joined the group. This was when Abbie realized that she needed more than just a Facebook group. She started expanding Plano Moms by starting an email newsletter and encouraged the members of their Facebook group to subscribe. The newsletter helped her create content that the moms needed and was even able to get offers from local businesses that the moms would enjoy! They expanded once again with their own Facebook page and Instagram, as well.

Plano Moms later then got its own website. This was were members could read Abbie's blogs, connect with one another, and also stay updated with the group's events. They even have a neat event every three months where the moms can speed date in order to get to know the members of their community!

Abbie's Secrets To Staying Organized

With Abbie having so much on her plate such as the Facebook group, website, and other social media accounts to manage, we couldn't help but wonder how this super mom keeps it all together! One of the best things, she found out that she could do was ask help from other moms! Delegating tasks for them was important, one of them is in charge of creating blogs for the website, another mom helps Abbie sell to local businesses and she also one mom to do her e-mail newsletters now.

But with so many different projects at hand, Abbie tries to do her best by outsourcing in order to get the best possible outcome!

Since she works with a lot of different moms and projects, Abbie and her team usually rely on Slack and emails for communication. They also use a CRM system to help them work efficiently with the businesses they partner up with.

The Importance Of Laying Down The Law

One of the things that sets Plano Moms apart from the different mom groups in their area is that Abbie has set rules for the members to follow in order to have a healthy environment for their community. An example of this would be that moms are not allowed to sell products in their group, the reason for this is that since Plano Moms was made in order for moms to help other moms with their questions - Abbie didn't want members vouching for the products sold by other moms because this could lead to them possibly only doing so for monetary gain.

New members need to get used to these rules, but Abbie has made it clear that it's all done in order to help their community stay healthy!

Videos And Plano Moms Merch For 2019!

Since the website just went live last year, Abbie plans to have more video content released on a weekly basis. She explained that the videos would be like the Today Show and feature presentations from their different members. Apart from the videos, in order to double her revenue, Abbie plans on selling Plano Mom merchandise! These vary from baby suits, t-shirts, and caps.

Learning Is The Key

One of the key things she has taken away from her life as an entrepreneur is the constant need to learn. Whether it be reading books, attending conferences, or listening to podcasts and speakers - continuously learning has helped Abbie a lot! To keep her knowledge flowing, she contributes an hour or two just for learning.

The biggest conference that has had an impact on Abbie is Social Media Marketing World, which we have also attended! She loved it there and we did, too, y'all should check it out and attend this year!

In another previous conference, she was invited to join a group that was mainly made of people just like herself - local mom bloggers and publishers. Since then, Abbie has developed great relationships with all of them and it has also relieved her that she's not the only one doing what she does. Because of her habit to learn, she was able to extend her network and form new relationships.

No Regrets With How She Started Out

Abbie doesn't have any real regrets about how she started out, but if there was one thing - she does wish that she had secured some finance at the beginning of her journey in order to invest and get a head-start.

But at the end of the day, she's happy with how she started out and is proud of the earnest growth of her business throughout the years.

Experiment And Move On

Having a straightforward business like Plano Moms allows Abbie and her team to experiment and try new fun things to help their business grow. But if the new thing they're trying out doesn't really work out for them, Abbie isn't afraid of letting it go and moves on to the next great idea. She also has a lot of faith in herself with her creative ideas and her team does, too! Having this optimistic mindset is probably one of the reasons why Plano Moms has been thriving so well.

$15 A Month Is All She Needs

When we asked Abbie what her best investment was with a $100, she said that she didn't have one because the best investment she spends on is $15 a month. Using messenger bots for her Facebook page has really helped Abbie a lot with her business. She still continues to experiment with the bots in order to help her improve her customer service. From selling things online, getting orders done, and adding people to her subscriber list, Abbie admits that it has made her life easier.

What's Abbie Binge Watching On Netflix?

It turns out that Abbie is into crime documentaries! She's just finished watching Making A Murderer Season 2, we personally have yet to finish it. Good thing Abbie saved us from the spoilers! It's a really controversial and interesting show, y'all should check it out.

Well, it was really great to have Abbie on the show and we can't be grateful enough that she was our first guest on The Marketing Natives for 2019. If you guys want to follow Abbie and her business be sure to check them out on all social media platforms @PlanoMoms, and if you're a mom that lives in Plano or you plan on moving there then you should definitely join the Plano Moms Facebook group! Don't forget to checkout her website planomoms.com

Thanks for listening to this episode, guys, it was really fun to record this! If you want to hear more from Abbie or if you think we should feature more guests, tell us about what you think and DM us on Instagram @bitbranding. We'll see everyone in the next episode!