| How Publicity Helped A Poor Farming Mother Launch Her Miracle Business |
| Written by Brian James | |
 Dana Steddy, from the wheat belt of Western Australia, has overcome post natal depression, three kids with allergies and no income, to develop a non toxic, soap-free washing ball for washing machines.It took Dana over 18 months to develop the ‘Miracle Wash Laundry Balls’ and create the website (www.laundryball.com.au) . I was reffered to Dana by Perth marketing guru Mal Emery. Mal thought Dana could propel the business with some media exposure/publicity. I was attracted to Dana’s story and wrote half a dozen media releases which I distributed to radio, print and TV. The media loved her story. Dana went on to be featured in a number of newspapers, on radio programs and now possibly a national TV program. What interested the media was Dana’s story. Folks, it’s always about the story. Of course the product or service, or whatever your business is, has to be good and be perceived as being different or new, but it helps if there’s a good story. Below is one of the media releases I created which attracted the media. Also, sometimes a letter or a personal email to a journalist is just as successful. I will include one of these too. MEDIA RELEASE Contact: Brian James 03 9 572 2856 Allergic kids, a’ Miracle’ soap-free Laundry Ball and the Internet give unlikely business success for enterprising, but battling, young farming mum from the back blocks of Western Australia’s wheat belt March 16, 2006,Darkan, Western Australia. Dana Steddy’s allergic children were the inspiration for a new, innovative non toxic, soap free, clothes washing ‘ball’ which is succeeding beyond the young farming mother’s wildest dreams through the power of the Internet. After overcoming Post Natal Depression, and with three of her four children suffering from eczema and allergies exacerbated by clothes washed in traditional washing detergents, the battling young farming mum from Darkan (WA) began a long exhaustive search to find a chemical-free cleaning solution. She discovered a washing ball from the United Kingdom. Unfortunately the ball’s internal cleaning pellets contained Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) – unacceptable to Dana and her children. With help from a Perth chemist and after twelve months of trials and testing, soap-free cleaning pellets were formulated for the laundry balls. These new pellets are non toxic, non allergenic, environmentally friendly and save time, water and money compared to traditional laundry powders. The next daunting challenge was to finance her new business; armed with a stretched farm overdraft, and funds from family and friends, Dana found a manufacturer for her new pellets (without SLS) and using the same concept from the laundry balls in the UK, combined the two to create the Miracle Wash Laundry Ball. With an eye-catching Internet site (www.laundryball.com.au) Dana’s business – Envirocare Holdings, is booming. She runs the company from the farm she and husband Murray operate in Darkan, on the fringe of the ‘wheat belt’, two hours south west of Perth, in Western Australia “I never thought our children’s problems would lead to a new business,” says the farming entrepreneur, “and with farming’s ups and downs the extra income has been very welcome; I hope my success can inspire other country women with good ideas.” |
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