Cloth Diapering is Natural

Cloth Diapering is Natural!

Discussion List Guidelines

For Diaper Companies Joining Our List

Interested in joining our discussion list to talk about cloth diapers and babies, and share your diapering knowledge and expertise? Anyone and everyone is welcome to join this discussion mailing list. But, in order for this list not become just another place to advertise and filled with SPAM, there is a real need for some sort of guidelines. Otherwise we would just end up arguing among ourselves, as all the other list members will have left in self-defense!

The following is a work-in-progress, so bear with me. If you have any suggestions or concerns to add, just let me know!

JOIN OUR DIAPERING RESOURCE LISTINGS
I have created a Diapering Resource web-page to list every diaper company's contact information. Send in your information, as this site is mentioned frequently on the list. Also send me a list of all the brand names of the diapers and diaper covers you carry.
Send in updates as often as you feel is necessary.
(Please do not list products you don’t carry, just to get more hits. That is truly unfair to the customer seeking product. Wasting their time will not lead to better sales.)
Send this to catherine@borntolove.com.
I will make this Diapering Resource Page known to our list members, as well as including the URL at the bottom of each list post so that they will be able to check out each diaper company on our discussion list. Here’s the address:
www.borntolove.com/d-list.com
Mirror: webhome.idirect.com/~born2luv/d-list.html .

SHARE YOUR BRAND NAME KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES
A list member asks about the absorbency, actual size, number of layers, fit, weight range, etc. of a diaper or diaper cover? If you have knowledge of this, you are welcome to share this! You have personal experience, having used it on your child, with a product that is being asked about? Share this! You can also share contact information to inquiring list members about local and mail-order merchants of the products they are searching for.

BRAND INQUIRIES
Do you carry a brand someone on the list says they can’t find? Let them know, but also make sure you have it included in your list of products (update me, as often as necessary) as I often direct people to the Diapering Resource Page. This is one way I am hoping we can make this work! If you have any other suggestions – I am open to hearing them!

NO COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING
Please maintain a gentle presence on the list. Remember that this is a discussion list, not a place to advertise your products or businesses. I see it as a safe place for parents, and parents-to-be, to come with their questions, concerns, complaints and rave reviews, as well as sharing their own diapering expertise and tips. New and expectant parents can feel very vulnerable at times. Please don’t make list members feel like they can’t pose a question or concern without ten diaper companies jumping all over them!
I have put a great deal of time, effort and money into creating a great mailing list for my customers - where they can have access to tons of diapering information and the expert help of parents who actually use cloth diapers.
Having been kicked off one list simply for being a business owner, I have tried really hard to be open to other business owners joining my list. I feel their own expertise adds a great deal to the list.
I feel I have provided business owners with a incredible service, allowing them the opportunity to simply enjoy the results of all my hard work. The opportunity for market research alone is worth more than any of us could afford!!
Maintaining the Diapering Resource pages, so that everyone can have access to your contact information is taking more of my time than my own business lately. You could not get this kind of exposure for free anywhere else.
All I asked of business owners is that they do not advertise to my customers on my list.

NEW PRODUCTS OR PRICING
Talking about a new product you have designed or created may be OK, it depends on how you do it - offering a new product for sale would not. Maybe you could just talk about a new product and then ask people to check your web page for more information, if they are interested.
If you are simply adding a new product to your line - new to your company but a well-known brand - or new pricing for your products, it is not to be posted to the list.
This information should be added to your Resource listing. You can include a line (max. 6 lines) to your sig.file, saying something like "Check out our new products! (or pricing!)".

CONDUCTING BUSINESS ON THE LIST
Please do not conduct business on the list. If a customer posts to the list, with questions about their order, etc. please contact them off-list. The other list members are not interested in downloading messages about someone else's order.
This includes posts like: "Hi Judy: Your diapers are finally in the mail and should be there by next Tuesday". There is no reason you cannot send this to the person directly.

COMPANY MENTIONS
If a satisfied customer wants to tell everyone on the list about what a great product you have, or the wonderful service you have provided – just consider that money in the bank! But – please do not send advertising information about your products, sales or services. Please do not lower your credibility by sending in "ringers", who are simply on the list to promote your products and business. My belief is that if you offer a superior product and service, that you will receive more business than you can handle!

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
If it should happen that a list member should send in a rant about your company, please contact them off-list and settle the matter as best you can. If you can do it well, I’m sure they will come back to the list to "sing your praises"! If not, once the matter has been settled, write to the list explaining how you handled the problem.

NO PRICES ON THE LIST
Please don’t mention your prices on the list – if a list member is interested enough they will contact you directly for pricing. Just ask them to contact you off-list. If you have included your e-mail address in your sig.file they can do that easily. Or, you can always contact an inquirer off-list, offering your information.

SIG.FILES
Please use consideration if you choose to include a sig.file promoting your business. Use it to tell us more about yourself – your name, your e-mail address, and your children (if applicable). We have a line limit for sig.files of 6 lines ONLY. Do not send your post with a long sig.file, full of blatent advertising. To give you an idea of what is acceptable, here’s what I am using on the list:
--
Catherine McDiarmid, owner of Born to Love
E-Mail: catherine@borntolove.com
Web-page: http://www.born to love.com
Mom to Jason-24y, Michael-21y & Joshua-10y
Grandma to Christopher, born October 8/98

KEEP DIRECT URLS TO SALE PAGES IN YOUR SIG.FILE
If you have an educational-type page, or know of one, that is applicable to a question or concern posted by a list member, you are welcome to post the URL within your posts. It doesn’t make any difference to me if it is connected to the rest of your site or any other commercial site. So long as the URL is not a DIRECT one to sale pages and it is truly applicable, it’s great!
If you feel the need to direct them to your sale pages, include your web address in your sig.file and all you need do is point them to that.
I have seen some posts on the misc.kids newsgroups saying, in effect, "I don’t have any answer to your question, but here’s a great site that might be of some vague relevance". That is not acceptable.
Don’t have any educational pages on your web-site? You really might find them a valuable addition.

AND FINALLY
After all, you wouldn’t want to have to dig through ten other diaper companies posts full of advertising, just to read some real questions and concerns. Neither do other list members. I think if we can all work together, and support each other we will become that much stronger. And that’s good for everyone!

Hope this doesn’t come across as too harsh. I’ve tried really hard to think about all the angles and problems that might come up – and to offer some workable solutions for them. After 3+ years of surfing the newsgroups and mailing lists, I am feeling a bit leery about this venture. But I welcome your input – I want to make this a great list for everyone!

I reserve the right to remove any subscriber from the discussion list.
Please don’t make me have to use that right!

Webmaster – Catherine McDiarmid