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Mums in Colombo is also in the business of building relationships. This online social community, set up in December of 2010, has a solid and rapidly growing membership currently numbering 25,000. The page also reaches 65,000 people on average on Facebook every week.
Co-founder Amber Habib-Vitarana is a confident proponent of this online business model. “Community is a natural phenomenon, a mindset and a way of engagement. It is also the essence of social business. Mums in Colombo functions as a platform for interaction – we build relationships and networks of trust, we bring together women with common interests from diverse backgrounds, and we engage with the subjects that matter to this specific group of people. Like any online community, we are powered by exchanging and sharing content and information, but we also leverage the emotional dimension of an online community, creating a safe space for women to explore the nature and challenges of parenting in the 21st century.”
For Amber, the satisfaction lies in taking the notion of community, which has been at the heart of the Internet since its inception, and creating a sustainable online commercial enterprise. She points out that the members of Mums in Colombo belong to a key demographic women aged between 24 and 54 years.
“Our membership represents decision makers who are responsible for making the right choices for their families; our community brings together a critical mass of potential consumers, and can function as an important source of feedback.”
The business model adopted by Mums in Colombo takes advantage of internet culture, building an electronic community to meet multiple social and commercial needs.
The community is foremost a virtual gathering place for mothers seeking advice from other mums. The community posts cover a wide range of topics from volunteer opportunities in Colombo to donating bassinets, mixing serious discussion such as natural birth versus C sections with light banter.
The diversity of the membership is an important asset in these exchanges, as it guarantees multiple perspectives on a single issue. The community’s electronic magazine, features articles on contemporary issues impacting children and parents, and generates real time discussion. The Teenage Blogger posts, written by a teenager for Mums in Colombo, tackle difficult topics such as depression, bullying and sibling rivalry from a teen’s perspective.
The page promotes a wide range of information including, activities in Colombo for kids, the sale of products, events geared specifically for parents, links to interesting articles and movie reviews. Mums in Colombo is also looking into other activities like supervised playgroups and featuring book reviews for kids.
Mums in Colombo has expanded relationship building beyond its online presence, inviting members to participate in a monthly book club, workshops on parenting, on being a woman, conducting annual garage sales, swap parties and food fiestas. The events aim to create a sense of camaraderie and togetherness, while achieving practical outcomes.
Ask the Expert offers the advice of five professionals on subjects ranging from parenting to party planning, fitness to counselling. Mums in Colombo also has a parents directory listing useful contacts for pre-schools, party planners, dance lessons and day care services. Business contacts can be added to the directory free-of-charge. The service is the community’s way of helping female entrepreneurs with small businesses; as part of this effort, Mums in Colombo will feature homemade Christmas goodies such as cookies and mince pies this December.
“We are also very conscious about ‘giving back’ and using the power of the Mums In Colombo community to help wherever we can,” says Amber. “Last year we ran a shoebox project and collected 250+ shoeboxes full of toys for the Maharagama Children’s Hospital. This year to commemorate Mothers Day, we focused on children with special needs, producing and filming a video at Chitra Lane School, and developing a range of specially themed mugs using artwork provided by the children at the school. The collection was sold online and the entire profit went back to Chitra Lane.”
When Amber initially formed the Facebook community four years ago, she hoped to reach out to other women, specifically mothers, and talk online about the issues faced by them and their families. The growth of Mums in Colombo in the four short years of its existence has exceeded her expectations.
Amber believes that the high degree of interpersonal communication resonates with a lot of women and has contributed to an ever expanding community of Mums in Colombo. To be a part of this vibrant community visit https://www.facebook.com/mumsincolombo and http://www.mumsincolombo.com.
