Founder, The Center to Prevent Lost Children and Wander Wear
www.preventinglostchildren.org

Did you know that seven out of 10 children get lost at least once in their lifetimes? When a child wanders, it can cause lifelong trauma for both caregiver and kid. Yet, fewer than nine percent of parents are prepared.

That’s according to Alyssa Dver, an accomplished software marketing executive, author and mom, who one day discovered a new purpose in life by helping to prevent children from getting lost.

She started by launching Wander Wear Inc. with cute company mascot, Whizzly, and offering products like parent locator tags, easy-to-spot children’s clothes, and a book, ‘When Whizzly Wanders’, that teaches kids what to do if they get lost.

When requests starting pouring in for Alyssa to speak on the topic, she launched The Center to Prevent Lost Children (www.preventinglostchildren.org), a non-profit that offers seminars to children and adults, communities and corporations.

A five-time entrepreneur, Alyssa offers advice below on topics like starting your own Web TV show. For more on preventing children from getting lost, check out her Web sites, where you and beloved kids in your life can also watch the new free online version of the ‘When Whizzly Wanders’ book.

Making Money and a Name for Herself

Alyssa: “I was chief marketing officer for a public software company and built a successful career as a product manager and marketing professional. I had built and patented my own software and sold that company so I could focus more on the product management and marketing, rather than running the company itself. It worked out really well in that the software is now installed in over 400 banks in several countries.

“I still have a bestselling book in that area as well, ‘Software Product Management Essentials’, which sells all over the world. Occasionally I lecture on related topics and I do a fair amount of consulting to companies that need marketing help.

“However, as I was getting ready to have a second child, the software market was starting to implode. I thought that freelance writing would be a good fallback, at least temporarily. I wrote prolifically in technology publications and landed a number of multi-page articles in BusinessWeek and Forbes. But writing was and continues to be something I do in the background.”

But Not Finding Fulfillment

“I always had a personal need to do something that was loftier. I took some time to really think and analyze what I really wanted to do. I literally asked myself, ‘What do I want to be known for?’ I wanted something that my kids could be proud of, that would leave a legacy for them. I wanted to do something that was important to the rest of the world, not just to my bank account.”

Panic and Inspiration Strikes

“In 2003, I went to a Red Sox game with my then three-year-old son and niece. It was a hot August day and I walked into a crowded Fenway holding their sweaty hands. As we made our way in the dark concessions area through solid mass of people, I thought, ‘What if one of the kids got away from me?’ (The children) would be terrified and I would be hysterical.

“I literally froze where I was. I wrote my cell phone number on a piece of paper and tucked it into my son’s shorts. (My niece) was wearing a sundress and sandals, so I didn’t know where to put my cell phone number on her. After leaving the game, I thought there’s got to be a better way.”

Launching Wander Wear

“A year later… I had confirmed what people wanted through focus groups, surveys and market research. Wander Wear was officially born in May of 2004 when the first product came out, our Parent Locator Tags. We built a content rich website and did a lot of media work.

“Subsequently, I began getting calls and was delivering seminar after seminar on preventing lost children… schools, YMCAs, parenting and grand-parenting groups, civic and religious organizations, hospitals… I got calls from everyone from the Masons to police departments. It became clear that there was a need to educate people as much as to provide products, perhaps even more so.”

Starting The Center to Prevent Lost Children (CPLC)

“This year we decided to split (Wander Wear) into two entities- that’s how the Center came about. The Center primarily does private and public sponsored seminars and consulting. This allows organizations to offer a lost child prevention seminar to their target customers, constituents or employees. We provide fresh and important information for the audience that subsequently brings a positive image to the sponsoring organization. Because the Center is non-profit, it’s a win-win all around.”

Lots of Kids Get Lost - How to Keep Them Safe

“The Department of Justice reported that over 2000 kids get lost every day, and that’s about 1.3 million a year (in the United States). However, in our survey work, we found that less than 10 percent of lost child incidents ever get reported. To us, ‘lost’ means any accidental separation of caregiver from child. This does not include a child that’s missing because they’ve run away or been abducted.

“When a child gets lost, it may not seem dangerous, but without proper supervision for even a short period, this can lead to both physical and emotional harm. And during that time when your child is ‘missing’ , it is possibly the most stressful experience any parent can face.

“On our Web site (www.preventinglostchildren.org) we have something called our ‘Away from Home’ checklist that provides practical tips parents can do (to prevent their kids from getting lost). It is free and the tips do not require you to buy anything or do anything that is time consuming. They are just really easy ways to keep kids safe anytime they are in public places.”

Greatest Challenge

“(Running a business) is a dramatic rollercoaster ride. There (are) phenomenal and devastating moments - sometimes within minutes of each other. You need to have people you can call that understand that - but don’t expect it to be your friends or family. They probably can’t relate to your situation and might even be a little envious of your adventure.

“Organizations like Ladies Who Launch and other entrepreneurial support groups are invaluable. When things aren’t going well, my circle of women entrepreneurs often help me realize what is hormonal from what is a really just a regular cycle of business!”

Keeping Her Previous Career

“For the past few years, I have been supporting my family. My husband just finished his elementary teacher’s certification and will be launching his second career starting this fall.

“I left my corporate position in December ‘05 and since then, I still do a fair amount of marketing and product consulting to a variety of businesses. People think you’re going to start a business and it’s going to be great the first day out… I’m still making that transition four years out because I’ve got two young kids and a mortgage among other responsibilities. I don’t want to take out loans and I haven’t found the right investors yet. So I’m working this in a way that I can afford in terms of my desired lifestyle and financial needs.”

Ultimate Goal: Giving Away Valuable Info and Products

“I want to provide lost child prevention products and information on a large scale where you will walk into malls, amusement parks, fairs, airports, and other public venues and you get our stuff for free because someone else is sponsoring it. I want to make it available where people don’t have to go online or to a store to buy it. I want to put it in people’s hands easily, first on a national scale, then on a global scale.”

Looking to License Wander Wear

“I love creating products and educating the public about something as important as the safety of children. I am not as fond of the manufacturing, inventory and accounting side of the business. Therefore, I have been in talks with a number of companies to license the Wander Wear products and/or become a spokesperson for the companies to bring lost child prevention to their brand.”

Quote of the Day

“I often must remind myself, ‘No never means no.’ What I mean by that is… you might make a sales pitch to somebody and they say, ‘No, ‘ but it may really mean, ‘No, not today because I’m having a bad day,’ or ‘I’m not the right person,’ or ‘I don’t have the power to make the decision.’ Often there’s stuff there you have to dig past even though they said, ‘No.’”

Recommended Resource

“I’ve got to give a plug to Wil Schroter who runs a company called Go BIG (www.gobignetwork.com). The company matches entrepreneurs with investors and provides invaluable information on starting and running a business.”

Today’s Do-It-Now Idea: Star in Your Own Web TV Show

“I just started a Web TV show that has taken off called Mom Matters . It’s a 10-minute video show that busy moms can watch anytime they want. The idea is to make a quick and fun but highly informative show about aspects of parenting that are on today’s moms’ minds.

“While I consider this a hobby, it has some great business advantages. First, it’s teaching me first-hand about new marketing and web techniques that I am sure I will apply to my businesses or to my clients’. Second, people tell me they love the show and we are already getting sponsor requests. We built in a 30-second commercial spot plus other benefits for sponsors so that we can charge for advertising on each show.

“There was no start-up cost to it. We use our existing video editing tools and I decided to use a blog instead of a Web site. The blog allows two advantages - first, people can comment on each show and build communities around individual show topics.

“This discussion infrastructure is a free part of setting up a blog as is the ability to provide an RSS feed so people can be automatically notified via email when new shows are posted. Second, blogs can be easily promoted via other bloggers, and there are an enormous number of women bloggers and readers out there due to the intimacy and convenience of blogs. All of this together with the marketing advantages of the public video servers and our variety of topics that we cover and tag, we get great web exposure.”

Words of Advice: Become a Pop Culture Junkie

“One thing I believe every entrepreneur should be is a pop culture fanatic. If you don’t understand the usability of an iPod, media and fashion trends, or the great marketing tricks enabled by Web 2.0 and social networking, you are missing some potentially invaluable ways to make your offerings as appealing as possible.”