133: PR, Blogging, and Competitions work great for Woocommerce social enterprise Mum’s Back

Sally Bunkham is the founder of Mum’s Back, who sell gift boxes designed for new mums, full of all the yummy things they’ve not been allowed whilst pregnant. They sell via their own website and on not on the high street. They launched in early 2017 and now (as we record in September!) doing 2-3 orders per week.

About the business

• eCommerce Business Structure – Online Only
• Product Range Scale – fairly niche
• In the UK, selling to the UK
• Platforms: Woocommerce & Not on the High Street

Listen to learn why a plugin for product bundles is essential if your business does bundling.

Getting Started

Sally was working in the University of Sussex  when she became pregnant. She really missed things like booze and soft cheese, and it struck her that there weren’t many gifts that focused on mums after having a baby. The concept of Mum’s Back began bubbling, but it wasn’t until she became pregnant again when her first child was only three months old – and she was once again sentenced to nine months of abstinence – that the concept was cemented.

Social Enterprise

Having been struck with quite bad post-natal depression following her second baby, Sally helped raise money for a charity to benefit families going through perinatal mental health issues. The founding of Mum’s Back was her solace and part of her recovery. Now she blogs and raises awareness about perinatal health as well, which has become a core element of Mum’s Back.

Listen to learn why social enterprise can’t be just a box to tick in your business, but something that has real meaning to the mission of your business.

The Team

Sally’s husband is her tech guy, and she has friends that help with the business. A photographer friend does the product photography, and a designer friend did her logo and branding. Other than that, it’s just her.

Most Awesome Thing Right Now

The most awesome thing about Mum’s Back is the potential and originality. Not many gifts focus on the mother’s health post-baby, and it’s nice to have an original idea. The potential of where she can go with it is really exciting.

Advice for Finding Traffic that Buys

Blogging has been a huge part of finding traffic. Every time Sally writes a blog post, it generates a lot of traffic, and her blog posts build on the social enterprise to resonate with the core message, which helps tie it all together. Sally also does her own PR via Facebook groups, free trials, and The Guardian, with help from Janet Murray (hear our interview with Janet here).

Listen to learn more

Sally’s Top To-Dos

Sally’s to-do list is to get onto licensed premises and get a personal alcohol license. Since she sells alcohol, she has to adhere to the same rules as a nightclub or pub. She’ll also be moving into a co-working space, as it’s important to surround yourself with like-minded people. She’ll be doing more PR and getting on Instagram, as well.

eCommerce Book Top Tip

• Watertight Marketing: Delivering Long-Term Sales Results by Bryony Thomas

eCommerce Traffic Top Tip

• Blogging

You can hear about all this on the podcast, for free – right now…

Tool Top Tip

• Her custom code for her WooCommerce plugin

For a special offer from Sally’s husband to get the code for free, email sally@mumsback.com

Start Up Top Tip

• Think about your network and people you already know to seek help.

Interview Links

• Business Special offer: 20% off a hamper with code Masterplan
• Not on the High St
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook