I recently had the honor of speaking at Macaroni Kid’s meetup (#MKmeetup) about Return on Relationship™ (#RonR), but it is clear to me that these women already get it — they are an exciting example of what can be accomplished through the power of relationships.

Macaroni Kid has close to 400 amazing “Publisher Moms” who get help from Macaroni Kid HQ to start their own local newsletter/web ad business, providing news on the kid- and family-friendly events going on in local communities.  Community members sign up to get this information for free, local advertisers pay for ads on the website, and the ad revenue goes to the Publisher Moms.  Brilliant!

Macaroni Kid provides this amazing opportunity for Moms around the country to own and run their own home-based business, and it is all based upon being a Mom in their community.  It’s Moms just doing what they do (looking out for their own family), and using it to help other families get the most out of their family time and local community.   AND they make money and get special discount deals from it.  The advertisers, on the other hand, get access to a broader audience through a trusted source (the Moms).  That’s a pretty clear Return on Relationship from both directions.

The Publisher Moms themselves have also formed an amazing community.  They are a group of like-minded women working apart, but together, helping each other to build something they can be proud of and benefit from financially.  This community was so clear to me at the #MKmeetup – the women attending the event were sponges for information about how they can do this work better and how they can better serve the community, their families and each other.

The Macaroni Kid HQ has set up the basic tools for each Publisher Mom to easily gather and receive information from individuals in the local communities, which empowers the Publisher Moms to build relationships with community members through sharing and valuing of similar information.  So it’s not just about what the Publisher Moms gain from the business, it is about what the whole community gains!

It is amazing what can be accomplished when women join together in authentic connection around a common interest and goal.  Spend just a few minutes on the Macaroni Kid website and you will sense the real people behind the words and likely find you want to know more about the people and the business.

Actually, the company itself is a Return on Relationship, with the idea resulting from two friends (Joyce Shulman and Nicky Hemby) “sharing a good meal and a great bottle of wine.”  Joyce had the idea to start a community newsletter for Moms and Nicky immediately saw the value in it.  What started that day as a collaboration between two friends turned into a collaboration between and among dozens of communities and Moms.

Clearly then, as a business model, Macaroni Kids works… and as a Return on Relationship™ model, Macaroni Kids ROCKS!   Let’s learn from them in each of our businesses.