The Itsabelly Blog

Exciting News - Itsabelly's Rebirth!

We're proud to announce that on June 27, 2008 Itsabelly gave birth to a rebranded website!  The company is the first "green" international business to provide baby planners and baby concierge services to pregnant and parenting families everywhere.  Itsabelly is growing and great opportunities are abound - we now have a location in Toronto, Canada headed up by Rishma Lalani.  We're are thrilled to have Rishma join the Itsabelly family.  Additionally, Jennifer Lo Prete will continue to be our savvy Marketing Mama keeping the great buzz going about Itsabelly.  Last but not least, Kelly Oswald, our New Parent Educator Mama will focus on providing excellent parenting resources. 

With a streamlined focus on 3 new categories of service "Itsabelly, Itsababy and Itsaparent" will help new parents in all of their pre, post and beyond newborn needs.  From registry completion, green baby 101, baby proofing, new parent education  to nanny/childcare sourcing Itsabelly is your one stop resource for baby.  Itsabelly even offers an on-line store filled with non-toxic, organic baby and mama products free of phthalates, parabens and 1, 4 Dioxane so shopping is right at your finger tips!  And we can't forget to mention that we offer delicious and all natural Bellybars - chocolate craving anyone?

Itsabelly is also focused on helping baby planners everywhere with their entrepreneurial endeavors.  If you want to be a baby planner or have started your own baby planning business Itsabelly is THE go to resource for growing your business.  The National Baby Planner Association headed up by Itsabelly's founder can also provide a strong network and support from professional baby planners wanting to offer the best customer service abiding by the highest of standards.

So, check our new site out and let us know what you think.  More exciting news to follow on Itsabelly's growth in Canada, the summer release of our new book and our renewed focus in helping provide services that put the right tools in your parenting tool box helping ease the transition into parenthood - making life just a little bit sweeter with baby!

Thanks to all of our wonderful Itsabelly supporters who continue to help our company grow, you rock!

Itsabelly Making it into International Headlines, Hooray!

We're truly excited to share with you that Itsabelly has made it into international headlines!  Our latest piece of press was on April 21st in the world renowned Springwise newsletter.  Calling us the "Baby Concierge Service with an Eco Twist"...a total surprise to us and since then our web and blog statistics have gone through the roof!! 

So, if you're sending in an inquiry and we don't get back to you right away you'll know why :) but no worries you'll hear back from us,we promise.

One word describes how we feel about Springwise's feature, "hooray"!  Thank you to Nancy Grossman of Back Channel Press who submitted our story and to Springwise's editor.

Itsabelly Baby Concierge Headquarters is in THE Best US City to Have a Baby, Portland!

Itsabelly is so excited to hear that the Pacific Northwest ranks in the top 5 best cities to have a baby in the country as seen in Fit Pregnancy magazine!  We're especially excited that Itsabelly Baby Concierge company headquarters are based in Portland because it was THE #1 best city to have a baby.  Seattle took the #4 spot!  How cool is that?

We have to mention that Portland along with tons of pregnancy and baby related resources has its own premier baby concierge/baby planning agency, Itsabelly Baby Concierge with a focus on green family living to add to the list of why having your bundle of joy in this city is so great!  Itsabelly is one of the first baby consulting agencies pioneering the new niche of baby planning.

Here are the reasons Portland ranks top on the list as seen in Fit Pregnancy:

•According to data from the CDC, maternal mortality in Oregon is especially low. 

•The CDC also reports very low infant mortality rates for Oregon.

•Portland babies are 24 percent less likely than average to be born with low birth weight.

•Babies here are 21 percent less likely than average to be born prematurely.

•Relative to population, Portland has more specialty retailers of healthy/organic foods and vitamins than most places in our survey.

•88 percent of Portland mothers attempt breastfeeding. That's the 3rd highest percentage of any city in our report. The average for cities in our survey is 75 percent.

•By six months of age, 56 percent of Portland babies are still being breastfed. That's the 6th highest percentage of any city in our report. The average for cities in our survey is 43 percent.

•19.9 percent of Portland mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively (meaning no solids, formula or other liquids) for 6 months or longer as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, making it the 2nd highest scoring city in this category. The average for cities in our survey is 12 percent.

•Once Portland mothers begin breastfeeding, they are 14 percent more likely than average to continue through 6 months. That's the 8th highest level of follow-through of any city in our report.

•Oregon has particularly progressive laws guaranteeing a nursing mother the right to breastfeed in public. 

•14.3 percent of births statewide are attended by midwives, compared to a national average of 7.3 percent.

•Portland has one doula for every 146 live births, the 4th highest ratio in our survey. The national average is one doula per 649 live births.

•Portland has 116 midwives for every 1,000 births, the highest in our survey. The national average is 37 midwives for every 1,000 births.

•According to our survey of park departments, for every 10,000 residents, Portland has 150 miles of public trails and pathways for hiking and stroller use, the 4th highest in our survey. The average city in our survey has 79 trail miles for every 10,000 residents.

•Portland has 61 lactation consultants for every 10,000 live births, the 2nd highest ratio in our survey. The average city in our survey has 23 lactation consultants per 10,000 live births.

•Expecting and new moms have plenty of parks: Portland's ratio of parks to residents is 1 : 1,827. The average in our survey is 1 : 3,790.

•Portland has plenty of high-risk pediatricians, 69 percent more than average per capita and the 9th highest in our survey.

•Portland has more OB-GYNs than average, the 5th highest in our survey.

•State laws require stringent background checks for day-care workers.

•Portland has 21 licensed home day cares for every 1,000 children under 4 years, the 6th highest in our survey. The average city in our survey has 13.

•In a comparison of inspection schedules for day-care centers, Oregon requires more frequent visits than average. 

•Pedestrians have a 63 percent lower than average risk of being killed by a motor vehicle here-among the safest in our survey.

Baby Concierge/Baby Planner in a Box Now Available (the start-up kit to launching a successful baby concierge business) TM

I've been working diligently on creating a Baby Concierge/Baby Planner in a Box (start-up kit) TM to help future entrepreneurs interested in launching their own baby concierge/baby planning business.  I'm happy and excited to say I'm ready to share it with the world! 

The kit is full of extremely invaluable information, tips and guidance on how to break into this new niche of baby planning.  The kit is based on my personal and entrepreneurial endeavor in launching Itsabelly Baby Concierge since March of 2007.  Baby Concierge/Baby Planner in a Box TM will help you understand the do's and don'ts of trying to break into a new niche and how to gain credibility in a relatively unknown field.  The kit will definitely give you a significant jump start at launching your business and I'm offering 1 hour of my consulting time with purchase of the kit.

Here is a peek at the table of contents in my kit:

Writing Your Business Plan
Resources
Creating a Business Plan You Love
Business Action Plan Template   

Market Research
Baby & Mama Industry Facts
Factual and Data Market Research Resources   

Marketing
Marketing 101
Effective Marketing Tools
Expand Your Internet Marketing Skills
Target Your Marketing Efforts

Earning Media Attention and Expert Status
Media Relations Tips

Developing Your Pricing Model
How to Set Your Price
Itsabelly Package Example

Researching Baby Gear
Itsabelly Product Research Guide

Building Partnerships
Sample Pitch Letter

Engaging Your Customer
Building Customer Relationships

FAQs   

Below is a description of what a future Baby Concierge or Baby Planner's background should look like.  Are you this person?  If so, contact Itsabelly for more details on how get your Baby Concierge/Baby Planner in a Box (start-up kit) TM to help you launch your dream business!  Contact: 503-799-5719 or email at info@itsa-belly.com

• Wants to work from a home based office
• Needs flexible hours to take care of children
• Is VERY resourceful and LOVES to do research
• LOVES to help others (particularly moms, dads and families)
• Has a strong drive to succeed
• Excellent at multi-tasking
• Well organized (or at least knows where their car keys are hiding half of the time)
• Great Follow-through
• Strong Customer Service and Interpersonal Relationship Skills
• Has good marketing & sales experience (or has the drive to learn)
• Has a supportive significant other and family for the late night hours of work you'll be putting in

2008 Copyright & Trademark Protected
Baby Concierge/Baby Planner in a Box (start up kit) TM is copyright protected. Please do not copy or use any images and content from this blog without written permission.