Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The kids hair salon had a renovation over the weekend and re-opened today so I had to take out the boys clothes on display last week. We decided to try the girls clothes instead since there were no sales. So today I went back with the girls line and as I was putting up the display, I had more moms walk up and show interest. Why is it that moms will buy more than enough clothes for girls but will not look twice for boys clothes? Boys do need clothes after all.

Monday, July 10, 2006

So I figured out something... I know it takes me awhile but trial and error has lead me here. And don't tell my husband as he's in essence told me this many times and it is slowly sinking in. I hope he doesn't give me the old "I told you so" .

Ads are not necessarily the way to go for the startup. They will be useful down the road, but in the beginning when you don't have the finances, don't put out ads. At least for me, they don't give me any sales anyway. Get people interested in your products to want to talk about them to others. People trust their friends, relatives, etc. and get advice on many products and ideas. But how do you do this on a much larger scale? I am now going to market Kaboodle Kids by participating in giveaways from blogsites, which usually provide editorials of your products, which is in essence your ad, but the difference is it is coming from someone who is trusted. People trust these blogsites as they have set standards and request samples of your product. I know my products are excellent. Many moms have told me so. I just need someone else that other webmoms trust to believe it as I do and tell them. Secondly, the editorials are usually archived so I'll always be linked to them. Ads are only temporary, whereas links from editorials are forever. This will improve my google ranking. Someday I will be ranked higher than zero!

Monday, July 03, 2006

My hot new idea for marketing was a slump the first day. It was on Saturday. I had a display of boys clothes only at a local hair salon, Snipadeedodas. Great shop. The owner even stated that boys are their bread and butter, since they come in so often. I thought what a perfect way to sell the boys clothes, which of course, gets shadowed over by the girls clothes. I've had woman (from previous displays) who only have boys, walk straight over to the girls clothes and browse. So I thought, this is the winner. Only show boys clothes, don't even entice them to a girls section. The shop is where my kids get their hair cuts, always busy.

Well this particular Saturday was steady but not the usual busy I am used to seeing. To top it off, quite a few dads walked in with their boys to get haircuts. Dads never buy. There were a few moms I spoke with that might be internet buyers at a later time though - for their girls. I gave them my flyer, that shows both boys and girls clothes. Maybe my being there was a putoff, although I am not aggressive or pushy, and I'd like to think that I sense those signs of buyer vs non-buyer.

So the clothes will stay there displayed on their own. Maybe the midweek mommies will show up and make a few purchases. It was also a bad weekend, being the weekend before the 4th of July. I am still hopeful. There's other alternatives too... entice with a few girls dresses on one side of the rack! I am sure that will work. ;-)