Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
CADDis for Causes
I'm excited today, because I've just decided to start something called Caddis for Causes.
This came out of my homework, which had me evaluating the purpose of my company. I've always donated to the Nature Conservancy, but want to move the give-back more to the forefront and increase the impact it could have.
Here's how I envision it:
I'll have a page on my site www.barbco.biz (though I may have to do it from www.hranilovich.com) which lists my causes with their logos. I've chosen these (we'll see if they are interested. If not I'll keep looking. These are my favorites):
Lansing Art Gallery
East Lansing Art Festival
American Cancer Society
Old Town Scrap Fest
WKAR
The Nature Conservancy
From this page there will be a link to the CADDi for each cause with as much information about that cause as they'd care to give me...at a minimum a link to their website.
From the sale of each CADDi, I will donate $1 to the cause.
Simple. Real. It feels like a good fit for me and had be humming at how to make it all work.
This came out of my homework, which had me evaluating the purpose of my company. I've always donated to the Nature Conservancy, but want to move the give-back more to the forefront and increase the impact it could have.
Here's how I envision it:
I'll have a page on my site www.barbco.biz (though I may have to do it from www.hranilovich.com) which lists my causes with their logos. I've chosen these (we'll see if they are interested. If not I'll keep looking. These are my favorites):
Lansing Art Gallery
East Lansing Art Festival
American Cancer Society
Old Town Scrap Fest
WKAR
The Nature Conservancy
From this page there will be a link to the CADDi for each cause with as much information about that cause as they'd care to give me...at a minimum a link to their website.
From the sale of each CADDi, I will donate $1 to the cause.
Simple. Real. It feels like a good fit for me and had be humming at how to make it all work.
Amazon?
Did a little research yesterday and decided to put my book on Amazon. The fees seemed reasonable and the visibility can't be beat. That was going to be my first little task this morning.
It turns out that you CAN just be an individual seller and sell for those small fees, but only if the product is already listed in their system. Mine is not. In order to have the right to list, I have to sign up for one of two seller programs, both of which involve monthly fees. I wasn't surprised, as I had assumed there'd be the fees, but since the first pieces I'd read had made it seem like there was a feeless approach, I'm slightly bummed and not in the mood to either deal with it or start paying fees.
So, for now, no Amazon. I'll take my chances and try to get people directly to the book. And that's my learning curve for this morning.
It turns out that you CAN just be an individual seller and sell for those small fees, but only if the product is already listed in their system. Mine is not. In order to have the right to list, I have to sign up for one of two seller programs, both of which involve monthly fees. I wasn't surprised, as I had assumed there'd be the fees, but since the first pieces I'd read had made it seem like there was a feeless approach, I'm slightly bummed and not in the mood to either deal with it or start paying fees.
So, for now, no Amazon. I'll take my chances and try to get people directly to the book. And that's my learning curve for this morning.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Flipping the Turtle
Yesterday I listened to a webinar put on by the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. It was LOADED with food for thought and my mind is still buzzing. He talks about helping entrepreneurs and how, in many cases, they just get stuck on some point - like a turtle who's been flipped - and that if they can just get unflipped they can move forward.
I'm very excited that, as a result of signing up for his class early, I've been offered the opportunity for an hour-long consultation with Mike. (Mike was kind enough, by the way, to endorse my book). I'll talke with him about the CADDi, as that whole arena is still the most foreign for me. I've been thinking a lot about where I could use help and when and where I, the turtle, got flipped.
I'm sure there are many many areas where I need to tweak and reevaluate and rework - I think that will always be true and, while frustrating, it's what is interesting about business. But, the big flip for me was, I believe, when my manufacturer took my minimum order from 2,500 units to 6,000. I've been working to get the CADDi in people's hands - getting it visible and recognizable. The ultimate goal, though, was not to sell individual CADDis, but to get orders for custom. At 2,500 units I could offer as few as 1,200 at a time if I combined two orders. With a minimum of 6,000 I need either 6 orders or two very very large ones, which is pretty unlikely with a product people barely know.
So, I'm stuck. I'm willing to sell singles as a matter of marketing and awareness, but selling custom was the whole point - a plan which would work in conjunction with my other work. I never wanted to be dealing with inventory - just brokering orders/helping with design - ship straight from manufacturer to customer.
As I was hoping, writing this has clarified my thinking a bit - not solved anything, but reminded me about where I got flipped. Being flipped doesn't mean I haven't been able to do anything, but it has completely changed the view. I look forward to getting my feet back on the ground.
I'm very excited that, as a result of signing up for his class early, I've been offered the opportunity for an hour-long consultation with Mike. (Mike was kind enough, by the way, to endorse my book). I'll talke with him about the CADDi, as that whole arena is still the most foreign for me. I've been thinking a lot about where I could use help and when and where I, the turtle, got flipped.
I'm sure there are many many areas where I need to tweak and reevaluate and rework - I think that will always be true and, while frustrating, it's what is interesting about business. But, the big flip for me was, I believe, when my manufacturer took my minimum order from 2,500 units to 6,000. I've been working to get the CADDi in people's hands - getting it visible and recognizable. The ultimate goal, though, was not to sell individual CADDis, but to get orders for custom. At 2,500 units I could offer as few as 1,200 at a time if I combined two orders. With a minimum of 6,000 I need either 6 orders or two very very large ones, which is pretty unlikely with a product people barely know.
So, I'm stuck. I'm willing to sell singles as a matter of marketing and awareness, but selling custom was the whole point - a plan which would work in conjunction with my other work. I never wanted to be dealing with inventory - just brokering orders/helping with design - ship straight from manufacturer to customer.
As I was hoping, writing this has clarified my thinking a bit - not solved anything, but reminded me about where I got flipped. Being flipped doesn't mean I haven't been able to do anything, but it has completely changed the view. I look forward to getting my feet back on the ground.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Capital Gains Article - E is for Entrepreneur
Capital Gains was kind enough to run a nice little article about my book. We talked for quite a while and she was allowed VERY few words, so she did a great job. One thing I want to clarify, tho, was that this book was not researched, per se. Any research I did was simply a function of living the live and paying attention over 35 years.I wasn't marketing when I said that it's a Michigan product - I just think that's cool to be able to say.
Now - if only the books would arrive. People have started to order this little book (I tried t make each page really count) which thrills me to no end.
Have to be out of town for the next few days, but hope to send out marketing materials on Tuesday.
Today is just a lovely spring day and I plan to open windows no matter what the temp!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Spread Thin
So much time on the computer these days. All the Twitter/Facebook/entrepreneurial groups and blogs/LinkedIn - so few REAL encounters. It feels like tossing stones in the ocean sometimes. It also feels like what I should be doing, so I keep doing it.
AND -
1. Yesterday someone I'd known from another group found me on Twitter and made the connection. We have chatted back and forth and that has come into focus in a nice way.
2. A friend and mentor has started a new group called SheHive, which looks like it is going to be an entrepreneurially-based site for women with lots of classes and seminars and more than what one usually finds. The founder and her partner are both fun, quick and dynamic and I'm hoping this can be my main networking group in time, streamlining things a bit.
3. A group of women I've been swapping tales, successes, advice and assistence with has gelled a bit. We now have a Facebook page to help us think more about how to function as a group. Each of us has a charitable component to our companies, so we may start there. The group was casually named Karma, but that is seeming more and more like a good fit.
Who knows where any of this will lead, but it's still interesting and there are glimmers of the potential.
AND -
1. Yesterday someone I'd known from another group found me on Twitter and made the connection. We have chatted back and forth and that has come into focus in a nice way.
2. A friend and mentor has started a new group called SheHive, which looks like it is going to be an entrepreneurially-based site for women with lots of classes and seminars and more than what one usually finds. The founder and her partner are both fun, quick and dynamic and I'm hoping this can be my main networking group in time, streamlining things a bit.
3. A group of women I've been swapping tales, successes, advice and assistence with has gelled a bit. We now have a Facebook page to help us think more about how to function as a group. Each of us has a charitable component to our companies, so we may start there. The group was casually named Karma, but that is seeming more and more like a good fit.
Who knows where any of this will lead, but it's still interesting and there are glimmers of the potential.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Top 10
Read 115 marketing tips at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur yesterday. I love this guy - funny and dead-on (the tips are from readers) I can't wait to read his book, which comes with a seminar I just signed up for.
ANYway...
I was feeling stuck, so the tips jogged this and that and I ended up with a long list of things that would be fun or important to do. This morning I wrote the following:
10 Reasons to Use a CADDi
1. It’s reusable and saves the waste of
disposable collars.
2. It leaves your hands free to text, open doors, scratch your nose, pull luggage.
3. You can hang it from umbrellas, rest-room hooks and strollers.
4. It lets you put your arm DOWN - just swing it along by your side...ahhhh!
5. The designs are fun - coffee beans, quotes, even some school colors.
6. It costs less than your last spilled latte.
7. It keeps your hands away from hot coffee and cold smoothies.
8. You’ll get attention.
9. You won’t drive off with a cup on you car.
10. This fun little accessory will brighten and lighten your day.
ANYway...
I was feeling stuck, so the tips jogged this and that and I ended up with a long list of things that would be fun or important to do. This morning I wrote the following:
10 Reasons to Use a CADDi
1. It’s reusable and saves the waste of
disposable collars.
2. It leaves your hands free to text, open doors, scratch your nose, pull luggage.
3. You can hang it from umbrellas, rest-room hooks and strollers.
4. It lets you put your arm DOWN - just swing it along by your side...ahhhh!
5. The designs are fun - coffee beans, quotes, even some school colors.
6. It costs less than your last spilled latte.
7. It keeps your hands away from hot coffee and cold smoothies.
8. You’ll get attention.
9. You won’t drive off with a cup on you car.
10. This fun little accessory will brighten and lighten your day.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Little Ups, Little Downs
up and down: Well, it turns out the cups used in the Netherlands for coffee are too small for the CADDi, so I won't get to have them in that Amsterdam shop after all. It's a bummer, because they were very excited and even talking about getting press about them, because CADDis are so new. Still, it was all a little exciting and the people were very nice to work with.
up: FINALLY got back on track with manufacture. I wrote several months ago about the death of a major player in our supply chain. It has taken all this time to rebuild the machine and, with some false-starts and returns, get the CADDis the way I need them to be. There are so few parts to them, but each is has to be right for them to work well and look good. I've been on hold with marketing, becase I needed to be sure I had a product, but I do. 7 months is a big chunk out of a 5-year plan.
UP! Someone Tweeted me about the CADDi: I should carry cards w/ your website on it with me - I get so many compliments on it. Can't shop w/ coffee w/o it!
THIS made my day and still makes me smile - for the fact that someone is using and loving a product from my head - for the connection on Twitter, which can seem like a vast anonymous wasteland at times.
In the end, ya just have to have faith and keep plugging - you really never do know who's looking at what or where they are.
up: FINALLY got back on track with manufacture. I wrote several months ago about the death of a major player in our supply chain. It has taken all this time to rebuild the machine and, with some false-starts and returns, get the CADDis the way I need them to be. There are so few parts to them, but each is has to be right for them to work well and look good. I've been on hold with marketing, becase I needed to be sure I had a product, but I do. 7 months is a big chunk out of a 5-year plan.
UP! Someone Tweeted me about the CADDi: I should carry cards w/ your website on it with me - I get so many compliments on it. Can't shop w/ coffee w/o it!
THIS made my day and still makes me smile - for the fact that someone is using and loving a product from my head - for the connection on Twitter, which can seem like a vast anonymous wasteland at times.
In the end, ya just have to have faith and keep plugging - you really never do know who's looking at what or where they are.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Encaustic
Yesterday at Pilates I was told a story about a Rat and a Sparrow. The vision fell into place as perfect for the encaustic medium I'm trying to understand. The story has been set to music.Encaustic is a beeswax/resin that can be pigmented and/or layered with other materials.
It's very exciting to use, as the materials themselves seem to just snap you to the right side of the brain.
I want to do much more with this and would LOVE to be able to do illustration assignments in encaustic. The surface is simply yummy. The marks are organic. The smell is slightly burned - encaustic is the right name.
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