The question I had is where do I host and maintain my website? I went to the only resource I knew, my husband. When I went on-line and looked around, I found there are a lot of companies that do just this. But how do I find the right one? I spoke with a contact who had just started her own business and she went with Monstercommerce. I asked what was it about Monstercommerce that made her pick them and she had no reason why. I couldn't understand that answer and felt compelled to look deaper into my decision. I did some research on Monstercommerce and their capabilities and was quite pleased, but I put my husband to the test to ensure I had the right choice. He started googling ecommerce to get answers, but it was an online catalog site that led him to shopping carts and he stumbled on a forum which had all types of merchants giving their reviews of the companies they merchant through. No better site to help in this choice than those that give true testimonies!

In our research, we found out what my true needs were for Kaboodle Kids:
1) visability - SEO (search engine optimization) was important - SEO friendly, meaning that my site is more apt to be picked up by yahoo and google and I need help to get me a higher ranking than other sites.

2) to have an amazon like shopping experience with shopping lists and browsing capabilities, basically a sophisticated on line shopping experience with backend tools to help me understand what panels the customer is viewing.

3) ability to support an affiliate model in the future - which rewards those sites that drive other customers my way.

4) overall quality and support.

These forums told me that other merchants support Volusion. Volusion was started by ex-Del employees that seem to know their technology. As I am finding out, Volusion does what Monstercommerce does and... alittle bit more.

If you are insterested in the forum, check it out at ecartreviews.com\forums.

My logo is coming together. I chose The Logo Loft to help with the creativity of my logo. Wired magazine helped me make my choice based on their reviews. With four different options from The Logo Loft and my husband's bit of creativity, I think I finally have something that represents what my company is all about. It shows a clean professional image with a bit of the kid in us that represents the fact that I am selling children's clothing. It's still being tweaked right now but should be done soon. It's amazing how important a logo is to the image and branding of a company.

Never underestimate the power of word of mouth marketing, especially when it comes to small start up companies. It seems that every other day, I am adding a new person to my database of potential customers. I think my excitement is showing through, which intrigues people to want to know more.

I have many decisions to make. It's hard to know what the right decision is. But I think back to a prior VP I worked for and remember his tag line... "It's only a decision." I need to keep remembering that the decision I make is what I considered the right decision at that time. I am stressing about the future and hope I am making decisions that help me with whatever that future may be.
I am working on the logo for my company. Boy is this fun. It's great to think I put this altogether.

The holidays have blown by and a lot has happened. I no longer work for corporate America and am now on my own! I am excited and nervous at the same time. Will I be able to sell all this merchandise I am purchasing? Can this really work? I want to turn this dream into a reality and pray that I am confident and smart enough to pull it off.

I am currently working out the orders for my two suppliers and working on a third supplier. I have a bank account and need to start working on my website. So much to do... I know, don't feel overwhelmed, take one task at a time.