….continued from part one and part two
Part three of the interview I conducted with both of them:
How do you promote or market your product?
Erin and Julie: Ads in scrapbooking and craft magazines, online newsletters, consumer shows, trade shows, and most importantly, word of mouth. Our customers are our best marketing tool.
What are some of the funny things that have happened since you launched?
Our first letter that we sent to a magazine editor – we agonized over EVERY single word, editing and re-editing for at least 12 hours! Chances are, this 2-page masterpiece wasn’t even read!
It’s not “laugh-out-loud funny”, but it’s interesting that the actual plastics manufacturer we work with is in the Far East, and we’ve never actually spoken with them! All of our business, including discussing drawings, handling revisions, arriving upon satisfactory pricing, shipping details and transferring funds has all been done through e-mail and international mail. Our main contact doesn’t even speak English, so we’ve dealt through translators. This is a very telling commentary on how business can be conducted in the electronic age!
Julie: I decided that it would be “fun” to develop an “Altered Stadium Organizer Kit” (which can be found on our “products” page). Erin said “go for it – it’s all yours!” Well, I spent countless hours not only conceiving the design, but I then spent so, so, so many more hours preparing the various pieces of the kits. The first batch of kits probably resulted in a HUGE loss in terms of my hourly worth. My hope is that scrapbookers who have used the kits LOVE them – that will somewhat offset the incredible labor-intensive job I undertook. Meanwhile, Erin was sitting back doing other business-related tasks, laughing about my grumbling about how much time it was taking me!
What is the one thing you’d like scrapbookers to know?
We want you all to know that you NEED this product. You don’t just WANT it…you NEED it. You may even NEED more than one. You may even NEED Dividers, Covers, and Embellishment Organizers. You will definitely find that you will be more efficient and get more pages done when you know where all of your supplies are…right in front of you…inside the box!
And so there you have it – an incredible interview with two of the nicest people who have not only started their own business successfully, but have created a product that is practical, functional and a must have for every household.
I know I love mine, and don’t even want to look back to before I received it. I have two more on my wish list and I’m sure over time we will find many more new uses for the sticker stadium.
Special thanks to Julie and Erin of Think Inside the Box, for taking the time out of their busy work schedules (when they could have been scrapbooking instead) to do an interview with me.
Please see the scrapbooking blog for part one and part two of this interview with these incredible ladies.