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.

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!

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. ;-)

One Mom's Quest for a Flexible Work Arrangement - does that sound familiar? Well yes, it's about me. I got an email the other day from another mom who is doing something similar to me and has been reading my blog and getting inspiration. Can you believe it? Who would have thought my little snippets of dialogue would help someone else? I am very honored that she wanted to write about me in her blog... a lovely story about me. I am so touched. So read her blog Boobba Baby Blog, and she also has her website selling products for mommies and babies Boobba Baby.

I need to figure out how to add other people's blogsites to my side panels. Someday I promise to do that.

So yesterday afternoon turned out ok after all. I went back to the preschool for the final portion of the day and the sales kept coming! I hit my lowered adjusted target going $1 over, which I didn't even think I'd get! I suppose God had a hand in that one! So I am happy again.

Today I went back to Lion Country Safari for a replenishment order. It looks like they went through about a quarter of the stock. So that will be a nice order to fill. I'll probably go back next week to bring them the stock. That makes me delightfully happy! I am also pleased to see them sell some stock that I can't seem to sell. I gotta get with Animal Kingdom at Disney and Busch Gardens. Here I come!

Then next week I'll be at the hair cutting place to sell only boys clothing. I hope that goes well. I also have a meeting with a school next week to discuss fund raising options with them. Sounds very promising!

I am disappointed today. My first day care display went so well that I had high hopes for this second one. Today is the final day and it didn't do as well. I did get some sales and have turned hopeful as every sale is a potential second one... and they are on my email list after all!

I do have another possibility next week. Since I am having trouble selling the boys clothes (moms always buy more for the girls), I found a great place to display boys clothes only... a kids salon! The owner reminded me that her bread and butter are the boys that come in to get their hair cut every 4-6 weeks, not like girls who can wait months. And one of the ladies who cuts hair there piped up the fact that it is hard to find unique clothes for boys (she has boys). So there it was settled. We agreed that I will bring in the boys clothes Saturday, July 4 and we'll see how it goes. I am uplifted yet again.

To top it off, I had lunch with not only my old pals from work, but also a boss I had four years ago. It was great to see them. Boy do I need to get out more and socialize!

Today I am feeling disorganized. I have so many different types of advertising going on I can't keep up. So today is organization day where I now have all the on-line marketing written down and organized. Don't get me wrong, I've been organized. All my local advertising and Google/Yahoo ads are on Excel. I am one of those types that calculates the ROI on every advertising type. I won't do it again unless it does something for me. I just didn't have one area complete and that was all these mommy message boards and sites that I am getting from new people I am meeting. Every new person I meet, I check out their website and see what links they have to see if they know about something I don't. I've been getting caught up in joining everything that I am now regrouping and seeing what is paying off. Even these new friends tell me what listed on their site actually works, which is helpful.

Tomorrow starts another 2-day display of my goods in a daycare. This is so far my best marketing. Don't make moms go out to shop, bring it to them where they are, dropping off their kids before work. Get them on that impulse shopping, while other moms are ooohing and aaaahing the clothes, they can't pass it up! I should know, I am a mom too.