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With so many celebrities getting press these days for the births of their babies, an old tradition has been rekindled, albeit with a new millennium name – the Push Present – or more eloquently, a birthing gift to honor the hard work of labor for the mother of a new baby. Traditionally, a birth bauble was something a well-to-do husband gave his wife for producing his heir, in India gold necklaces or other gold jewelry, in England a lavish ring, but now it’s begun to be seen more as an acknowledgement of the woman’s role of bearing the responsibility of carrying the baby for nine months. And the trend is starting to take off, overwhelming fathers-to-be who feel the pressure to keep up with what mom’s friends were given.

However, the good news is that the one thing etiquette experts agree on is that this is a deeply personal gift and there are no standards to follow. So consider these three gold necklace ideas or use them for inspiration, this is a precious time to acknowledge and only you know what is right for your new mom.

Over the top

This is an opportunity to really wow her with something completely over the top that she’d love to have but would never ask for and never buy for herself. Has she eyed a fancy gold pendant or elaborate gold necklace with gemstones in the past with ooohs and ahhs? This could be the time to pull out all the stops and splurge on something that will amaze her. Gold necklaces along these lines can be a part of special occasions throughout her life and even become treasured heirlooms to pass along to the little one she just carried.

Mother’s jewelry

Mother’s jewelry is a great choice at this time, particularly for first time mothers. Birthstones look lovely on gold necklaces, whether yellow or white gold. You can choose to use the baby’s birthstone alone to represent the new addition, or have the necklace include all of your birthstones symbolizing the family together.

A gold necklace is perfect to hold special charms designed along this baby themed line such as the currently popular enameled baby shoe charms available in a wide variety of colors and encrusted with different gemstones. Another version of mother’s jewelry is an elegant cameo pendant with an image of a mother and child, lovely to pass down through the generations.

Gemstones just for her

If mother’s jewelry isn’t the right thing and over the top just isn’t her style or not practical at this stage of your lives, then choosing a gold necklace with a gemstone in a size and setting that fits her personality and you know she’ll love is the perfect solution. Whether her own birthstone or another that she likes, perhaps in her favorite color, be sure to select a gold necklace with an adequate weight to support the pendant you choose and with a strong clasp if not choosing a one piece gold necklace that is crafted with the stones directly mounted.

Again, what’s most important here is the personal nature of this gift between the two of you, you want it to be something she’ll treasure and that she knows you put thought into. If you feel you need guidance because you want to be sure you’re right on the mark with something she’ll love, check in with a trusted friend or family member that will know her style and will tell you the truth. Giving the gift of gold necklaces has been a tradition throughout history with some of the earliest gold jewelry being dated back to 3000 BC. With a track record like that, you should be sure to make one new mommy feel even more special than she already does when you mark this priceless occasion by honoring her and the love you feel for her at this time.

Copyright 2006 Lulu Bells Treasures

Many inventors come up with ideas for babies and young children-either toys, clothes or other products. While selling to Toy-R-Us or other major retailers can be difficult, the baby/young children market has many small retailers and the industry is fairly friendly to inventors, with a well attended trade show, several key trade magazines, and a well established network of manufacturers representatives. Inventors with strong products can typically set up a rep network to launch their products without too much trouble.

ABC Kids Expo

The starting point for every inventor should be the ABC Kids Expo. This show has sections for toys and games, clothes, furniture and, of most interest to inventors, a special section for Mompreneurs (mother-entrepreneurs). I typically recommend inventors attend this show before they actually introduce their own products. At the show inventors can:

1. See how products are displayed and priced.

2. Meet other inventors that have recently introduced products and get tips from them on finding reps and introducing products.

3. Possibly find another inventor who would be willing to partner in a joint marketing effort to cut costs.

4. Meet representatives that might be willing to sell the product. You can meet the reps just by going up to different booths and taking sales people’s cards, many will be reps, by just talking to people at lunch and break tables, by going to a hotel bar at night and networking with people.

Use Trade Magazines

The industry has two main trade magazines, Baby Shop Magazine, which includes maternity products, and Playthings, which focuses on toys. The trade magazines will often have information on representatives-but its most important aspect are the new product sections. Those sections allow you to send away for literature from a wide variety of companies with complementary products. Often the literature will come with the names of representatives that are in your local area. You can meet with those representatives and if they like your product they will often give you tips on how to move forward.

Selling Locally

One of the great benefits of the young children’s market is that almost every major city has several small shops where inventors can get their product started. Inventors will have an easier time putting together a rep network to sell their product nationally if they can first prove the product will sell at their local stores. You must be fairly aggressive in marketing to local stores and keep your momentum going if you are to interest sales reps. You can offer products on consignment, where stores only pay for product if they sell, offer product on a guaranteed basis, where you agree to take back any unsold products and give a full refund. You can also pass out coupons, do demonstrations and arrange to have stories in local papers to generate sales momentum.

Develop a List of Manufacturing Sales Agents

Most of the activities I have listed to date are to help you build up a list of representatives that you can approach to sell your product. You may only get one out of 20 reps to sign up to sell your product so you need a big list to start with. The trade shows and trade magazines will help, in some cases you can also check out local gift markets, see http://www.giftmarts.com. Often some of the reps within the marts will also carry children’s gifts and other children’s products. You can also purchase a list of reps here.

Offering Ownership to Well Established Representatives

One of the reasons you want to meet local representatives is that you might want to offer a share of you product to a representative that will take over sales of your product. This is highly recommended for inventors without sales and marketing experience. The rep will know promotional and advertising strategy, what trade shows to attend, plus he or she will have strong contacts with certain retailers and also with reps throughout the country that he has worked with on other products. A 10 to 25% ownership position will attract a good representative if they like the product.

JPMA Safety Products Certification

In some cases, where your product has moving parts, you might want to consider getting a safety certificate from the Juvenile Products Manufactures Association. The safety certificate will help you at many retailers and it will be asset if retailers ask that you have product liability insurance.

Attracting and Signing up Sales Representatives

From the time you first start thinking of introducing your product you should start thinking of the package of materials you will send out to reps. Get lots of pictures of your product being used, testimonials and evidence of the product being sold in local stores. Work with a local representative to explain promotional programs, sales discounts and shipping terms that you will include. Once you have your rep list start sending out mailing packages to 10 to 20 reps at a time. Follow up with some of the reps you don’t hear from to learn what they didn’t like about your offer to see if it can be improved.

You can get local help for develop a manufacturers rep agreement and to ensure you have all of your starting a business paperwork in order from your local SBDC or from SCORE.

Yes, minutes-not hours. Not days. Not all weekend. Not anymore. If you’re ready to connect with customers and prospects and share your solutions-here is the quick and easy way to design highly persuasive sales presentations.

Sales presenting is a critical part of professional business. If you’re good at it…you’re prepared. You’re also well ahead of the curve of folks who are suffering under these false assumptions:

A. I’m more creative ad-hoc

This is a scary belief. If you are telling yourself this fiction, watch out. If you hear it from a co-worker or teammate, challenge it.

Creativity is best when you’ve got a solid story structure and have rehearsed like wild.

B. I’m best when I wing it

Variation on a theme. Do not fall for this illusion. Winging it is a joke. Even if you’re a pro. Even if you’ve done it before. Even if you have a very attractive alternative for how to spend your time before your pitch.

Don’t fall for this kind of thinking. It can be a cover-up story you’re telling to yourself to avoid hard work.

C. I already pitched to this group before

Things change. People change. You’ve changed. If you’re going to be at the top of your game, approach your presentation with fresh eyes and new enthusiasm.

Relying on a dusted off presentation is a really bad idea.

O.K. Now that we got those out of the way, what are you going to do to create powerful sales presentation-fast?

Follow these 6 steps and you’ll be off to a great start.

1. Start With Targeting The Client’s Problems

Based in your research and understanding, identify the top problems your client faces. Start here. Show that you understand, know and are listening to your client’s true needs.

2. Prioritize Options

In traditional newspapers, articles were written with the most important facts and news first. Then, if the editor needed to cut the story, they would cut off the bottom-which contained less important information.

Approach your presentation planning the same way. Organize key concepts by importance. Then, if you need or want, you can skip the less important points based on time and client interest.

3. Highlight Benefits

Building your presentation on your client’s top priorities, structure your story. Using a presentation storyboard is the fastest and easiest way to plot your strategy, organize the time and highlight important benefits.

While your company may offer several types of services such as consulting, training and sales presenting-focus on the specific benefits that address your client’s issues.

Many sales presenters neglect to consider this point. They may find certain benefits more intriguing or important. But what you prefer is not crucial. Focus benefits to connect-the-dots with the problems your client wants to solve.

4. Engage and Interact

Old-school selling often encouraged sellers to: “tell, tell, tell.” Instead, organize your presentation to include times for the audience to interact. Plan your sales presentation with ample time for discussion, Q & A, and client interaction.

Hint: do this early on. The sooner you hear what is important to your client, the better. You’ll be able to adapt and flex your message to match the mood.

5. Personalize With Relevant Examples

Be the person everyone wants to listen to. Share your personal experience through short, powerful and relevant examples. This is where practice and rehearsal really pay off.

Work through your potential examples with your presentation coach. Practice sharing anecdotes. Speak briefly. Share your story with passion.

6. Finish With Clear Compelling Message

It’s often said that people remember the beginning and end of a sales presentation-more than anything else. End on a bang, people will recall you, your brand and your offer.

If you must make a decision to cut a section in order to end with impact, slice away. Take a surgical approach to send the strongest message in the shorter amount of time.

Using these 6 tips, you will be able to create persuasive sales presentations in minutes-not days.