Thoughts on Marketing…

All the big guns in marketing talk about it – viral marketing on the web is just as wonderful as word-of-mouth advertising in your home town.

That’s why you write articles, post on blogs, write your own blogs, join networking sites, and always try to say something useful enough that your readers will forward it on to a few friends, who will forward it on to a few of theirs, and on and on.

So let’s see if we can put it to work right now for a good cause. Yes, I know, there are so many good causes you can’t count them all. But this one affects every one of us, in every community across the U.S.

It’s the plight of battered mothers. Did you know that every day in the U.S. 10 women lose their lives to domestic abuse?

I’ve known a lot of people over the years who I suspected of being abused, but recently I talked to someone whose Mother had been murdered by her boyfriend. He said she didn’t believe him when he threatened her.

But back to why I want this to go viral. The Battered Mothers Rescource Fund maintains a hotline that mothers in trouble anywhere in the U.S. can call to find a safe place to go where they can take their children with them. It turns out that a lot of women stay and endure the abuse because many women’s shelters won’t take the kids. It also turns out that because safe houses must remain hidden from abusers, they aren’t always easy to find. Even local law enforcement doesn’t always know a place where a woman and her kids can go to be safe.

I think it would be a good thing if that phone number got out to everyone – and if it was kept in a safe place where it could be easily found if needed. You never know when you might meet someone who desperately needs to find a safe haven.

Phone Toll Free 1-866-592-7870

I don’t have a count on how many Moms and kids are in shelters right now, but I know that the Battered Mothers Rescource Fund has found safe haven for well over 5,000 moms.

Right now volunteers are raising funds to see that those kids in shelters get a Christmas gift. Not a mountain of gifts like most of our kids get – but one or two things to let them know they’re still kids and the world is still a good place.

Why not go right now and make a donation. It doesn’t have to be large – especially if we can get thousands of people across the U.S. to pitch in. But of course, if large is what you like, they sure wouldn’t turn it down. The expense of maintaining the database and phones on top of helping with transportation and basic necessities for moms and kids who run from abusers is quite substantial.

Visit www.batteredmothers.org to learn more about battered moms and the ways you can help them get out of the cycle of abuse and create a healthy life for themselves and their children.

Let’s go viral! Send all your friends right here to www.marte-cliff.com/wordpress

We’ll all have a merrier Christmas knowing that we’ve helped put a smile on the face of a child whose world has turned upside down…