FINALLY

June has been a strange month for me. It's the 24th already and I see where I have only posted on the blog once this June. I guess I get quiet when I have big question marks in my mind. Why the question marks? Because business has been slower than I ever expected. But today, FINALLY, I received a decent inquiry about some product - I've got to tell you, I really was wondering if there were any people behind those unique visits to the website.

I'm floundering a little on what merchandise to pick. Not my expertise at all. I just have to go by instinct right now until I can afford help. I went to SCORE online to see if there was a counselor with merchandising expertise. Think I found someone who might be able to help but she keeps asking me for my business plan. I sent her a draft and now she wants financials. Haven't sent that yet because I was waiting to see what response I was getting so that I could extrapolate some numbers. She also wanted to know how much I've invested to-date. I thought I already told her so I'm a little frustrated. But I tell myself to just take a deep breath, forego the frustration, and keep on moving.

I also received some information from SCORE on internet marketing. Says that 97% of internet business gross less than $30k per year and only 2% have sales exceeding
$500k per year. Wow! Another interesting point was the 1/3 Rule of Thumb for site design - 1/3 text, 1/3 white space, and 1/3 graphics and design. That made me go back and look at my homepage. I quickly saw that I had added on too many 'boxes' and the site was looking cluttered. Another WOW!

I have continued to look for product online and think I'm making a bit of progress. But now I'm getting to the point of deciding how much money to commit. I'm still not convinced there is money to be made here. But breakeven would be nice. And volume would be even better.

Enough posting for today. I'll try to get back soon.

Tossing and Turning

I get all these great ideas at night when I can't get to sleep. You'd think I'd jot those brilliant pieces down on paper but I don't. I wake up the next day and sometimes really have to struggle remembering those brainstorms. And even when I remember them, sometimes I don't get to them because of all the other tasks that need my attention and completion. I really need to start a list - next to my bed.

Sometimes my ideas aren't really brilliant. Sometimes I really feel like a dumb fool. And that was me last night. As I was stewing over reasons why I haven't converted more visits to sales it suddenly occurred to me that I am being greedy. My dropship wholesaler is charging me for packaging and I have set up my website to pass that charge on to my customers. Well, if you take a different perspective that should be an overhead of mine. I mean, afterall, I don't have the brick and mortar expense to pay for so maybe I should bear this cost. Duh!

Thanks for listening!