Exclusivity
Only 1 business type per category

Networking and Cross Promotion
Work with other small business owners who have the same client demographics on ways to:- develop ideas for reaching new clients,

• cross-promote our businesses by introducing our existing to clients to other members within the group.
• educate Edmonton and area families about our members and the services they provide.
• pool resources to have a larger impact with traditional marketing as well as social media such as
  Facebook, Twitter etc.
  
  Tradeshows
  As a result of our alliance, we hold our own annual tradeshow - The Birth, Baby and Family Fair. We are very happy to say that we had just over 200 people come to all of our tradeshows. This has
  been a wonderful opportunity for local families to come out and meet our members and learn about the services they provide
  In 2010, we are hoping to hold 2 tradeshows, one in the spring and one in the fall and at 2 different locations.
  
  Meetings
  We currently meet twice a month - the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month, with the meetings lasting 1.5 hours (8:30 to 10:00).
  We spend the first 30 minutes (8:30 to 9:00) networking with other members, using this time to get to know each other better and to develop our business relationships within the group.
  The actual meeting will be after this and is usually an hour long (9:00 to 10:00).

Guest Speakers
One meeting a month will feature a guest speaker. The guest speakers will do presentations on a variety of small business topics such as bookeeping, business planning, marketing,
social media, etc.

Open Forums/Topics for Discussion
The second meeting of the month will involve members working in an open forum format and sharing their experiences on a variety of topics such as:

• what is your best form of advertising
• how do you thank and retain customers
• what is the best tradeshow you are participating in this year
  
  Children at Meetings
  We realize that a number of small business owners are also parents and may still have young children at home. Therefore, members are allowed to bring their children to the meetings.
  Steve Gould from Sports For Kids has volunteered to have his staff, who are certified child care workers, provide child care while we have our meetings. The following are the requirements:
  
  
• The staff member will supervise all the children in the gym area.
• There will be balls, toys, etc for the children to play with
• Members will pay $5.00 per meeting.
• Any additional children - the fee will be $2.50 per meeting
• Members need to give Steve notice if their chld will be attending a meeting - his phone# is 780 452-1266
• The child must be 1 year old
• Staff will not change diapers.

Website & Social Media
Each month, the website, our Facebook page and our Twitter feed will be updated to introduce the public to our feature business fo the month, offer coupons and special offers from our members and read interesting and informative articles from our members on topics related to the services they provide.