Where Did the Year Go?

I don't know about all of you, but I can not believe a whole year has past! It is bizarre to think that Woobee has been in business for over 2 years and Lola is going to be 3 next weekend. In my youth it seemed like it took forever for 1 year to pass. The year between 20 and 21 took an eternity (although I never let a thing like age stop me from having a good time). Now it seems that every time I catch a breath and look up another year has gone by. I can say that the years are getting better, which allows me to stomach the pace.

Business stuff...I just want to make sure all of you who read my blog and own your own business know about the FREE service Google provides for tracking traffic to your site called Google Analytics. Definitely go to Google and sign up for this if you don't have a way to track your traffic already, or even if you do Google has amazing options on ways to analyze the data.

I am about to hit the blog circuit again for BabyLegs and some for Woobee. Spreading the good word by giving away product. I do recommend sponsoring a giveaway when dealing with blogs. It has been my experience that it increases traffic to your site. Now, Woobee has never received a ton of sales from these reviews. Companies with lower priced products may notice more direct income, but it is still wonderful PR and people are starting to know the Woobee name and products. That is worth its weight in free merchandise.

This is how I choose blogs that may review Woobee or BabyLegs - I look at blogs I like or that I know are very popular first, then I look at their list of blogs they like, and the blogs they like and so on. I email the blogger and ask if they would be interested in reviewing the products or if we could sponsor a giveaway (may cost a little money or more product). This usually opens a dialogue on ways to work together. I have developed some wonderful relationships with bloggers (like Asha from Parent Hacks and Kelli from Tangled and True) and encourage you all to use this wonderful way of low cost marketing.

Have a wonderful and safe New Year!!!

Strength

Hey Blog readers. I am about to sound like a total sentimental weeny...I love the show the Biggest Loser. I am watching the grand finale and I tell ya' obesity runs thick in my family and seeing these people lose over 70-175 pounds is unbelievable. It totally blows me away and often brings me to tears.

Another blog that is sure to catch you attention if you like stories of hope and the strength of the human spirit is http://www.sixmaybemore.blogspot.com/ - The House is on Fire. I won't give it away, but I laugh and cry when I read it...and the blogger is a huge Woobee fan.She sent me the most amazing email about Woobee's giving comfort and security to two of her children through a very rough year. Check it out.

I have a question to all you small business owners? Do you spend every available moment working in some way? Whether you are fulfilling orders, emailing, graphics stuff, what ever it is, are you always doing something? My goal is to get to the point where I can hang out at night and choose what I want to do - without working AT ALL on Woobee Kids. I love my company, but I would really love to read a book for fun again.

HoHoHo...

Okay, have you elfed yourself yet? Office Max has this free fun program were you can insert you and friends/families faces onto elf bodies and they dance around. Ridiculously fun and I would say the best free thing I have done yet this holiday season. Here is my family - don't tell my husband I gave this link out...http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1349405231. If you do decide to do this yourself, the first picture you insert will go on the girl body that my husband is on (that's sounds a little off, but you know what I mean).

The wonderful Asha from Parent Hacks gave a fabulous review of our new Super Woobee http://www.parenthacks.com/2007/12/the-most-luscio.html - check it out. A huge warm Woobee thank you to you Asha for spreading the wonders of Woobee all over the globe!!! Here is a picture of Lola (pink hat) and her friend with a new turquoise/pewter Super Woobee.

Well business is certainly picked up from last year this time. I believe that that is do to good PR, lots of word of mouth, and a great product. People are finally starting to know to ask for a Woobee for holiday gifts. Thank God. Part of this months success also has to do with BabyLegs buying a butt load of Woobee product for their site. The BL site now exclusively offers the Ultimate Gift Baskets equipped with BabyLegs, Woobee product and a SaraBear Basket (which I love). There are three different price ranges and they make the PERFECT baby shower gift (especially for those that want to go in on a gift or make a BIG splash).

I have my husbands company party tonight. I actually don't know most of the people he works with because his office is 45 mins + away. But, honestly - how hard could it be to get along with a bunch of guys that design and sell bike parts?

Okay the next GHTA tip of the day. This tip is from one of the main speakers and I think it embraces the importance of how others perceive the success of your company:

When someone asks how your company (or you) are doing you answer with one simple word (and only this one word) - UNBELIEVABLE! Now, even if things are going badly this one word covers that without being negative or lying, and the importance of appearing successful will not only allow people to talk about how well you are doing (which will perpetuate success), but you will manifest your own success.

Have a GREAT weekend everyone.

Christmas for the children...

Hi everyone! Happy holiday season! Welcome to the time of the year where money actually flies out your a*s. This is the first year in a while that we have actually been able to spend a little money on the girls. Now that my hubby is out of school and employed full-time I have planned what I think is going to be a fantastic Christmas. Now, I don't consider the amount of presents the judge of what makes a "fantastic" day. As a matter of fact, I am quite against getting a child loads of presents and everything on their list. A few choice gifts that you know they will love is really enough to create a magical holiday feel. What did we get the girls this year? Well, since they have all the Woobee's they could possibly want, we chose some wonderful toys. My in-laws always send me a check to buy presents with which I love. So, Santa is bringing the girls a Plan Toys Chalet Dollhouse w/ some furntiure. They can move the floor plan around or seperate it in times of crisis - I love its modern feel. Lola is getting a rolling backpack (very small) with a bear on the front that can be strapped in. She saw it at the store and fell in love! Ava is getting a set of 3 wigs that she has been dreaming about for the last 6 months. Lola is also getting a Plan Toy activity bus and Ava is getting a dragon/dinosaur costume that is awesome from Magic Cabin. I also ordered stocking stuffers like felt animals, color pencils that look like twigs, and a few other little things from Sonya's Toy Garden. I bought all Lola's presents and Plan Toy gifts at a local favorite Urban Kids Play (and they sell Woobee's) and they also had a great book for drawing people that Ava will totally dig.

GHTA Tip of the Post: Creating a design (plan) for a request allows the person to deliver the expected outcome. If you do not give them a design, they will fill it in themselves and it may not be what you are looking for. A design should be replicable.

Snow in Seattle

The weather man is predicting snow in Seattle this weekend. I am fine with snow - I grew up in Alaska and am not affraid of a little snow. However, I am affraid of Seattle drivers in the snow! If you haven't been to Seattle picture a landscape of ridges where neighborhoods exist, which is awesome for scenic views but tough when it comes to snow and ice. Cars are literally parked all over the place randomly and people freak out (and of course I don't mean everyone in Seattle does this). It's crazy. Snow for the weekend is good timing though. I can't leave the house anyway because I have a huge order to send out on Monday. I am going to be in my house tieing Woobee Guides and tagging bibs and burps. I swear if people knew how much goes into packaging and sending out a piece of product (also called fulfillment - I didn't know that when I first started) they wouldn't bitch about the price of Woobee's.

So I have had some exciting news come up...my sales report tells me that I have increased my business this month by 500% compared to last year! Yes, i did type 500! The wonders of Woobee are starting to spread around the world. Hooray!

i would like to give a shout out to my friend Deb at Bellysock who gave me a great business tip...go to Costco and spend $70 on an external hard drive. You can download your whole hard drive onto it which will save your ass if you loss you laptop, break it, or it gets stolen. With my girls twirling and whirling I definately need that.

My GHTA tip...this one is from the panel I sat in on with Editor of major gift trade publications...

When putting together a press release focus on the 3 w's what, when, where, and how. Do not grand stand and talk about how "there is nothing else like this anywhere" or "this is the best product ever" etc. They want the information with no fluff and easy on the adjectives. Always include a picture 300dpi, 3 inches that is LABELED.

Gooble Gooble

For the record everyone - I have tried to post this numerous times but am having trouble with blogger...anyone else having difficulties? Let's see if it works today...

Happy holidays everyone! I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful weekend with friends and family. Seattle had unusually beautiful weather and we spent a few nights and Thanksgiving in Anacortes (the first San Juan Island that you can actually drive to) where my mom has two retail stores that my sister helps manage. Great stores downtown...a home and garden store and a lingerie style store.

(I am attaching a picture of Lola in front of my moms condo riding her stick horse. Notice the Woobee tied around her shoulders keeping her very cozy.)




Last weekend I went to San Diego representing BabyLegs (and Woobee) at the Gift and Trade Home Association conference. The GHTA is an organization whose membership are gift retailers, manufacturers of gift items, and sales reps / rep agencies in the gift market. The organiation is designed to bring communication and synergy to these three businesses that depend on each other for success by offering key note speakers, peer group discussions, and panel discussions from all different areas of the business. I found a lot of this information very useful in growing Woobee, but I also found an even larger sense of pride in BabyLegs. Nicole has worked hard and fast at implementing systems into operations that most of the companies I heard speak would love to have. I will be revealing tips Iearned at the conference with each post for a while.



Tips from the GHTA Conference 2007:

If you sell your product to retail stores provide them with a great sign...the word is that a good sign can increase sales up to 600%!

Woobee Mom at the Boom Boom Room

Hey People.
I get more emails with questions about the Boom Boom Room! I am glad to have had the experience to share my thoughts with you all. I'll shoot out a disclaimer that this is only my opinion based on my personal experience with Woobee Kids. You can also view my achieved entry Celebrity Swag and the Tattered Mompreneur for some more strong opinions on this subject.

The Boom Boom Room event was one of the most unorganized events I have ever been part of. I felt the people were unhelpful and ungracious...and I have never received the photo's promised in the contract, and I asked numerous times. It was expensive to pay for the table at the event, car, fly down, the hotel and its food was VERY expensive ($20 for room service breakfast - simple eggs, meat, potatoes). Not to mention the 150 pieces of product you need to give away.

Do I think I got my money's worth, not really. Am I happy I went? Yes, it was a very interesting experience to add to the books and I was able to get to know my traveling companions from BabyLegs better. Would I do it again? No, as a small struggling company I truly believe I would be better off using that money towards a PR person. A-list celebs never show up at these type of events. If they have any interest they send their stylists who you would never be able to pick out of a crowd. It also turned me into a crazy person looking at the tabloids all the time for a Woobee blanket siting. I feel like I get more for validity from retailers and definitely more sales from national press in magazines and TV shows - the kind of thing a PR rep can get you.

I have also found easier and much cheaper ways to reach celebrities...especially the types of celebrities that press actually cares about. Numerous companies / pr firms do celebrity gift baskets delivered right to the celebs door. Also, I always consider whether or not the products these companies are asking for will get photographed with a celebrity...my bibs and burps are not going to be in a picture of a celeb walking down the street, so I don't do a lot of those requests.

I remember the feeling of anxiety when asked to attend the Golden Globe Boom Boom Room event. So conflicted about whether or not to take this chance...what if you don't go? Did you miss an amazing opportunity with a big celebrity? What if you do go and you spend a ton of money and give away the farm in product and nothing comes out of it? If you do decided to go for it - you will always have the experience and every experience is worth something. If you decide not to go I found a PR person (and not all are $3500-$4000 per month- there is a wide $ range out there) to be very helpful at helping to take my company to the next level. And for the record, as much as I don't like the way this world always spins I do believe that doing celebrity out reach can be useful in growing a company in this celeb crazy world we breathe in.

As a business owner I always go with my gut feeling, so if any of your guts decide you should go email me and I can give you some tips on how to make the most of your experience.

The Down Low about Reps and Trade Shows

I have been receiving a few emails lately from people with questions about sales reps and trade shows. This issue is fresh in my mind since I am currently signing two new reps, which would mean I have three reps total and a distributor in Australia - one step closer to Woobee world domination!

I believe in using reps, especially if you have a family. Why? Because it takes an amazing amount of energy (and money) to travel around pitching your goods. If you can find reps that do the trade shows even better! That should actually be a goal, to find reps that travel to the shows. A sales rep will cost you between 10-15% depending on the type of product you have...mine are in the 15% category. So when you are figuring out your pricing make sure you structure that cost in. That's what took me so long to get reps, I could not afford them. Woobee's are expensive to manufacture...each blanket is hand pinned because the materials slip. I have been slowly chipping away at my cost so I can afford a little help.

How to find a good rep? Check out the companies you feel are good fits with yours and see who there reps are. Shoot them an email with a link to your site and a brief description of your product (why they would want to carry it), and if you need to make a follow up call. You should know that it does cost extra for your rep to take your product to a trade show. It depends on the cost of the show, ENK is very expensive, ABC is not as expensive.

Trade show cost a lot of money. I have heard stories about small companies that sink $30,000 into one show, although doing it cheaper is easy. Generally, the booth space can cost around $1,500 for a 10' x 10' depending what show it is. If you want a 10' x 20' it would be $3,000, etc. The more booths you stack next to each other the better rate you can get. What you put into that space to strut your stuff and draw people in is where you can save money by being creative.That price is from the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas, which I believe is a good show. I have been very lucky to travel with BabyLegs to shows and sharing a booth space for a percentage of my sales from the show, and that is the only way I would be able to attend. This is why I think sales reps are the good guys. Find ones you really like to take your company to the next level. i am signing up with Rhonda Kilvin from Baby Gear Junkie in Boston/NY and can not be happier, and also Trinkets and Trappings in Chicago which I think will be a great relationship also.

Good luck out there! It is tough work!

Beauty, Karma and Barbie

I don't want to sound like some uptight mom here, but I hate Barbie. I hate her for all the reasons you all already know - her bust to waist ratio, for perpetuating unrealistic body images, all the little crap she comes with (to much plastic makes me cringe), and most of all I hate the commercialism of Barbie. Where and I going with this? Bare with me...What I now know about being a parent is that parenthood is like instant karma. The children that come to us (and maybe this is just my children) are pre-loaded to love, act, and be all things in which we have little tolerance. I believe they are here to teach us how to be "flexible", achieve tolerance and become better people - but you have to open (open hands open mind people). So, after I just stated my feeling for Barbie you probably know what's coming next...Ava LOVES all things Barbie. I remember the first time she saw Barbie and Disney Princess stuff...we were at Target looking for a gift for a child who also loved Barbie (Ava was 2) and we turned down the isle that is draped in pink from top to bottom Ava literally gasps! Then she turn to me with this very crusty look that clearly read how dare you keep this from me, how long have you known Mommy Dearest, then she ran into the isle eyes darting from shelf to shelf memorizing every single little thing, which she spoke non-stop about for months and months relentlessly. I had broken the seal of all things Barbie and was entering into a new world that challenged every aseptic of my parenting style (Ava went to a Waldorf pre-school). To make a long story short(er) I had to talk with myself about beauty and self esteem. What would be more damaging to my girls, owning and playing with Barbies or having a mother who tells them what they believe is beautiful isn't or is unacceptable? As a mom trying to practice conscious-parenting, I choose allowing my daughters to express their love for things without judgement, and I believe that will give them the self-esteem to overcoming any bust to waist ratio Barbie has to offer. Now, my house is not full of Barbies and all of her accessories, and I do prefer Barbies new line of toys that comes from a more imaginative place like Fairytopia & Mermadia (since my girls know they are not growing up to be/look like a fairy or mermaid and don't think that was a mistake from Barbie producers - brilliant marketing), but we also practice moderation in our house - so Barbie isn't the only thing limited.

*disclaimer - I respect all styles of parenting and parents toy choices (accept for styles that are against the law - obviously). Being a parent is hard enough without other people passing judgment.

Woobee business: Look for Woobee Kids, BabyLegs, and the wonderful Parent Hacks doing more cool stuff together. I encourage all you business peeps to reach out to your favorite blog. If you don't have one yet, find one...they offer fantastic partnerships.

Flexible

Hi there people. I swear I always plan to blog more but I feel like I am behind "schedule" - HA! A schedule is kinda a joke for this Momprenuer. I pretty much figure out what has to happen in the girls day and fill in the blanks, but always remaining flexible. I teach my girls about being flexible. If you ask Ava what it means to be flexible she says, "it means when your plan doesn't work out it's okay, you get another plan". Words to live by from a 5 year old. Here is a picture of Ava sitting on one of the new Super Woobee's. These are the best blankets!

Upcoming Woobee Press:

I just heard from Asha at Parent Hacks http://www.parenthacks.com/, and her Woobee review will be out within a couple of days. She loves the blankets and I love her blog - a match made in heaven! Also, The Baby Planners (who I met at the JPMA show last April and LOVE) are going to be on iVillage's "In the Loop" after the Today Show on Nov 15th talking about their favorite baby things and they asked to bring Woobee. There are no promises, but I sent a package to the studio on Friday. I also scored them BabyLegs for an audience giveaway. Cross your fingers and hope I get a shout out. Woobee blankets will also be in the January issue of Pregnancy & Newborn. They are doing a blanket article:) What else...oh yeah, on Dec 22nd the Fine Living Network's American Shopper (on cable) is doing a piece on mom inventions and Woobee Kids will be featured on that too. It is all very exciting! So exciting in fact, that I have to go to bed.

Check out Mint and Lilac my new Australian distributors - hooray! Spreading the wonders of Woobee all over the world! That's what I am talkin' about!

Pretty in Puke - *CAUTION* Graphic pics

So every year my family gets the stomach flu. Our #1 defense against messy clean ups during the day and especially in the middle of the night? You guessed it - the Woobee blanket and you are lucky enough to see this in action since we currently have the stomach flu.

Okay, this is going to be a little icky for those of you who are have a weak stomach, so proceed with caution.

Compliments of Lola on her way home from school (here's Lola - fav pink panda sweatshirt from Fooey on sale now!)

She pukes on the blanket that covers her or her bedding, it doesn't soak through and it's soft enough to wipe her poor little face -

Then I spray it off in the sink and throw it in the washing machine and presto...good as new!

It's a good thing she is so cute!

Piper Down!

So, I have finally managed to catch the sickness that has been milling around these parts. I feel like crap, but it has definately been worse (once you have two 9.5 pound babies naturally nothing else seems that bad).

Parenting while been sick is by far my least favorite thing (besides parenting with a hangover - which I've only done once and quickly learned that my vodka days were far behind me. Besides, I felt like a total loser!). I have learned to be easier on myself when I plug the girls into the TV so I can think about only one thing at a time, because as many of you know when you are your own boss & only employee there is no one else to take orders to the post office, take extra fabric to the manufacturers, or order more frickin' snaps.

When I am in peak form I can run Woobee Kids and parent my girls without even thinking twice. I have mastered making errands fun for all, cooking dinner and emailing symentariously, and have my girls believing driving 1/2 hour to one of my sewers house is actually a treat - she has a little dog they love. Anyway, enough complaining.

Check out the Northwest Enterprising Moms web site. It is a wonderful non-profit just starting out to help support moms that own/run their own companies. We are getting quite the roster of experienced business moms. We are having an amazing event in November...fashion show, vendors, kids kick butt craft area, etc. Anyway, I am the current vice president of the org and really think it is going to be a wonderful help to moms all over the world.

Some Relief for the Tattered Mompreneur

Lola has tuned a corner in her development that is making my life soooo much easier. I just realized the extent of this change and I have to yell it from the mountain tops! LOLA DOES NOT TEAR CLOTHING AND PRODUCT OUT OF BASKETS AND BOXES ANYMORE!!!!!!!

Now, this may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but if you have finally taken (not found, but taken) the time to actually fold those 3 baskets full of clean clothes then your toddler comes in and starts a fringgin' yard sale yanking clothes out and crawling into the baskets it could seriously put you over the edge. At least me over the edge. Even worse is getting boxes upon boxes of product all neatly stacked from my manufacturer and that same chip off the ole block toddling into the basement and ripping through that product like there was a cookie at the bottom of each box. ARRRGH! Big deep breath...the chip is only a two year old and doesn't actually understand that she is about to send her mommy into the corner sobbing.

But not anymore!! Lola can officially pass by a basket full of clothes and keep on moving. She can see endless open boxes of Woobee's everywhere and choose a toy instead of box diving. Finally her mind is getting stronger than her will and she is actually able to stop herself from doing something she knows will make her mommy crazy. Good times people!

Only now I have baskets full of folded laundry all over the place:)

The Woobee new Urban line below is finally coming in. Custom gray striped ribbon ties and the new shag plush material - soft like cotton candy - make these blankets, bibs and burp dreamy. My two favorites are the lilac/pewter (which I am so in love with I can't see straight), and the new turquoise/pewter. I have some blankets on sale at my site so make sure you do a little early Christmas shopping and Woobee the Ones You Love!

Rollin' in Woobees

I have been working so hard to get a new Woobee product line out and I am finally seeing the fruits of my labor. The new shaggy plush fabric for Fall /Winter is so fun. Cotton candy soft and a titch longer and brighter in color than the current plush.

The new Urban line that will be available in the very near future is awesome! The striped gray ribbon is the perfect component that ties it all together. My favorite new blanket is the lilac/pewter Urban - it actually soothes me:) I will be doing a photoshoot tomorrow with just product shots and put some up for viewing. I am very excited about this new fabric. Dealing with textiles can be such a headache!

Keep a look out for the new Woobee products.

Halloween begins in September

Hey. Business first. Check Woobee blankets out in the November issue of Pregnacy magazine. It's a sweet spread. An assistant editor for Pregnancy came into the booth this weekend at the Mom2B show to see if I had seen the piece (which I did not attend, but Woobee did) and said that her editor owns a Woobee blankets and loves it so much she tells EVERYONE about it. You gotta love that!

Halloween. Here is Lola in her new costume her Grandparents bought her when they were visiting. She's killin' me peep peeping around the house, pecking on everything saying "bauk bauk". Ava is Wonder Women. I can't help but sing "she's a wonder Wonder Women" every time she wears the costume. I'm stoked to have scored cool costumes. It has taken me 5 years to figure out that if you want a decent Halloween costume you have got to get to the stores in September...SEPTEMBER!!! My girls could be so over their costumes by Halloween. Ava is a Halloween kind of girl. For two years straight since when she was 3 & 4 - and I am talking about everyday for two years- Ava told me what she wanted to be for Halloween. Not the same thing, but a different costume everyday. Although her choices often repeated themselves, it was tricky to commit to anything in September or even October 29th since on the 30th she would have something else in mind. Now we are asking her to choose in September, explaining that this is THE costume she will be wearing, or she can choose a costume we already have (which are many). We'll see how it goes. So far it looks like 5 is the magical age of costume commitment. Hallelujah!

I blame my husbands new full time job for my lack of blogging. For those of you who haven't checked out my archives, my husband was injured and had to do a job retraining program. At the end of June he graduated from his program and his internship offered him a full time position. He actually could not even start full time until I came back from the ABC Kids Show. You would think I would be ecstatic about some financial stability, especially since times were so tough for so long, but even though things were stressful we had flexibility. That means we co-parented and shared car pooling, cleaning, shopping, etc. My husband is super hands on, so having him around is actually a help...I know it's not the same for all husbands, I'm lucky that way. But the 40 hour work week is definitely putting the axe down on being flexible.

I am such a big believer in the 30 hour work week, or four 10 hour days. How the hell do families get anything done with people out of their home for 40-50 hours a week? It is no wonder everyone is so stressed out in this country. Even if the dad goes to work and the mom stays home (or dad stays home), someone is spending their whole day taking care of the home, the children, and the families social schedule (a job within itself) while the other person is handling the 40 + hours a week job. My husband is so bummed that he doesn't get to see his daughters more than 2-3 hours in a day, and when he does get home I am handing off the baton and running in the other direction. It's pure craziness. How do families stay connected? And then there are those of us moms who chose to start our own businesses and are taking care of the family and managing to squeeze in 40 hours a week - total insanity. What the hell are we thinking!

Anyway, I know you all can relate.

I do want to give a shout out to my girl Heather in Little Rock. She is not only an amazing person, but she has amazing products called the Prego Planner and the Tot Tag (which would've saved me when my girls were small). Her company is called Braelyn Bounty Bug. You should check it out! She is a mom worthy of your support.

Okay I have written a book!!! Catch you all later.

Childrens Products, Sore Feet, and Vegas

Hi Everyone,

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas. Holy Crap! The ABC Kids Expo was a crazy experience. The BabyLegs booth was on fire! We knew it would be a busy, but we had no idea this many retailers and exhibitors were in love with these adorable little leg and arm warmers. Woobee Kids and BellySock also opened new accounts, and it was great for our products to be able to attach our information to all the BabyLegs info going out.

I am very grateful for my set-up in the BL booth, but sharing space with BabyLegs has its good and bad points (mostly all good). When people come to see BabyLegs they are very focused. Retailers have a lot of decisions to make when ordering and are often overwhelmed with all the styles - around 100. Making those decisions in addition to all the other wonderful vendors surrounding them is totally overwhelming. Many buyers have a list of the vendors they need to order from and want to stay on track. No room in their day to find new lines. We were lucky to be able to slip our line sheets in with the BL's, but I can't help but wonder if I had more space with Woobee's displayed and layed out properly how they would do. Next year the three lines (BabyLegs, Woobee Kids, and BellySock) will have a 20 x 10 booth. So that should be much better for display options.

Loads of great products!!! The shopping at the end was a little crazy. I picked up some cute things for Lola and Ava, but I tried not to get out of control. So many parent owned companies. Check out Bink Link pacifier attachers. If my girls still used binkies i would own all of these! Another parent owned company and these parents are hard working and really good people. I love to know the stories behind products so I can support good people. There are way to many cool companies out there to have to support ones run by a**holes.

I'll talk about more great companies each post. Enjoy your weekend. I am still trying to go through all the contacts we made at the show...it is an enormous pile.

Shipping for the Working Mom Sideshow

I am lame these days about blogging. It's not for a lack of things to say, it's from the lack of time to say it. I am so swamped! I'll stop my whining. I sound like a broken record...I'm so busy - blah, blah ,blah. This craziness is totally self-inflicted. I am just determine to grow Woobee Kids until I have achieved Woobee World Domination and doing that is exhausting while raising two young girls.

I feel like I am a total sideshow, complete with a beard and stench of cotton candy and corn dogs (oooo...i love corn dogs). I bet many of you business owning moms can relate to the day I had Friday. I started the day thinking I would do something really fun with the girls, and then everything went terribly wrong.

First there was my lesson in shipping.

I am bringing in a whole new Woobee fabric line for this fall and spent the early morning trying to pay for the shipping I arranged from LA the day before (that was unexpectedly time consuming to do). Apparently, you can't pay for shipping until the truck has picked up and logged your shipment, and for whatever reason the company will not just take your credit card number to charge you when this data is available. You actually have to keep calling back until all the info is in their system and then they'll take your money, but not a minute before. Anyway, I had arranged for a COD delivery so I could get the product moving asap and the company quoted me a $55 fee for the COD. Well when I called in the morning to pay the price had changed to $189.00! Imagine my surprise when it cost half as much as the total shipping charge. This little bit of information sent me into a tailspin. I spent a long period of time getting everyone to be cool about cancelling the COD charge in mid-transaction.

Then the day begins.

So, I started my Friday at the post office in my pj's at 8:30 a.m. sending a check overnight to my fabric company to avoid the obnoxious COD charge. I convenienced them to allow me to fax them a copy of the postal receipt in place of having the actual check in hand. I had to rush home so I could relieve my husband from his fatherly duties and leave for work. I threw the girls in the car so I could meet a friend and give her the 5 Woobees she ordered. After we met her at Fresh Flours (and getting my girls in and out of a coffee shop is no small task), back in the car and run home to fax the fabric vendor the overnight mail receipt so they'll email the shipping company and release the COD request. Back in the car to start the 35 mile drive to my seamstress in Everett to pick up some samples I need for the ABC Kids Expo. The girls are being pretty tolerate at this point, but their patience is getting thin. Luckily my seamstress has a funny little dog and a swing set so this may be the only "fun" time they'll be getting before nap. Did I mention that Lola was up at 5:15 am - therefore I was up at 5:15am. She unfortunately fell asleep for 20 minutes on the drive (which is what I was trying to avoid). By the time we drive home it is 12:00 and time for lunch then hopefully nap...wrong! Lunch time was no problem, but nap - clearly the 20 minutes was enough to reset Lola for good times. Neither Ava or Lola took naps, but I did manage to spend endless time trying to get them to go down. After I resigned to the fact that I would not be getting any peace to work on all the marketing info I needed to put together for this show, the girls went back in the car and we headed down to BabyLegs to pick up the new fabric samples from overseas and then to my Seattle manufacturers to drop off materials I had at home and purchase orders. Whew. By this time I am so tired and running on caffeine for energy. Now, it is 4:30 pm and time to head home and start dinner. The girls are a little punchy from no nap and I am just about ready for the Little Einsteins DVD to relieve me from my parental duties (I admit with a little shame).

It sucks that this was the girls day. Is making a point to be a work-at-home mom so I can be with the girls really benefiting them? Wouldn't they be better off having fun with other children than running errands with me? Um, yeah. They would be. However, good childcare cost a buttload of money and we are just not there yet financially. Do I try to make all that running around fun? Yes. We sing a lot in the car and make up stories as we go along. My girls have great imaginations and I try to feed that as much as possible. This is the way I justify dragging them along.

I know there are other mothers out there with the same type of days going on around them. I find women's stamina unbelievable. My husband is amazing and a terrific father - he bathes the girls, packs their lunches and does laundry. But, a day like Friday would bury him.

PS - Happy post-Labor Day!

Birthday Celebrations

Wow. I am in some sort of time warp. I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week! I swear it wasn't until I had children that my life started flying by at a frightening pace. On Friday I turned (gulp) 37. Now, I'm not one to be silly about growing older. I do not think I am OLD now that I am 37, but this has been the hardest bday yet. I just can't say the words t-h-i-r-t-y-s-e-v-e-n without thinking of a person way older and far more mature than myself. Other than my aching back and temperamental bladder (oh yeah, and the crows feet) I think of myself as so young.

Anyway, on the business side of life...our lawyer has come up with our first draft of the contract between Woobee Kids, BellySock, and BabyLegs. It looks very thorough with a few adjustments needed here and there. I am sure Nicole's lawyer will want to alter a few things as well. It is a lawyers job to first consider their clients. We want the contract to be fair to all parties involved. We've been waiting for months and now I can actually see that this will happen. It's super important that everything is signed before we attend the 3 September trade shows or else things start to get a little murky with the finances.

I had my first really bad manufacturing experience on Friday (happy bday to me). I picked up my first batch of product from my new local guy and out of 27 blankets I could only sell 4. Yes 4. The bibs were also crap. I was only able to save 3. I did have him stop blanket production (thank God), but the bibs were already sewn - 80! The big problem is that my inventory is tragically low and I do not have any more fabric in stock for some popular colors. The fabric supplier that I've been using is back ordered on my colors until the end of September. I wanted to change fabrics and am excited about the new cozy material, but now I will have to change two entire lines. Now think about what it means to change two whole lines...not just reordering hundreds (lot of hundrends) of yards of fabric and the manufacturing, but also having samples available for trade shows, literature on hand, line sheets altered, photos done, website changed, and press kits changed. It is a ridiculous amount of extra work 2 weeks before a show. But, it can and will be done. Oh, I am also adding a new product called the Super Woobee. I'll fill you in as it comes available - it is totally awesome!

The Outdoor Retail Show "product of the entry" is Smith sunglasses. The rep was so great to us and kicked down a pair of sunglasses each! I scored a very cool (a little too cool for me) gold metal frames pair of J.Lo style shades. I feel very hip in them - and am definately giving mix signals as I cruz around in my Volkswagon Vanagon. I need a new ride for shades:).

I'm going to bed, finally.

Children, Coffee and Pajamas

I am a little ashamed to admit that I did not get out of my pajamas today. Summertime is killin' me in the productivity department. Thank God for coffee or I may not have got one thing done. Ava (my 5 year old) is not in any summer programs this month. Lola has started her school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but not knowing my husbands job situation we did not commit to camps for Ava - and I don't know about where you all live, but in Seattle you have to have summer programs booked in the winter. There is a huge 'you snooze you loose' thing going on around here.

Because of the nature of parenthood I am so grateful for my job flexibility at BabyLegs. Instead of going into the office I'll be working tonight for a while when the girls go to bed, and while my husband handles the evening routine. I was able to be home today so I tried to get work done with the girls playing around me and I invited my friends husband to bring their two boys over while he ran a bunch of errands. Children are actually easier in a herd, especially when I have work to do.

Alright, so every posting I am going to end my posting with a mention of one of the great companies I experienced at the Outdoor Retailers Show. One company I think is great is Darn Tough socks with they're amazing comfy socks made in Vermont (I love products that are locally made) and the hysterical Ric Cabot running the show. Ric has a hosiery mill in Vermont that makes BabyLegs natural colored organic wool and cotton products. He hooked me up with a cushy pair of footie's and I LOVE them. Check 'em out.

Ultimate Mens Playground

Sorry I have been away from bloggerville. I am currently in Salt Lake City (wednesday - sunday) at the Outdoor Retailers Trade Show - what a crazy place! I can't even describe the size of this show. Floors and rooms upon rooms (and I am talking Ballrooms in size) of all the latest outdoor gear, clothing and accessories. What am I doing at the show? I am walking it with Nicole from BabyLegs, scouting the possibilities of having a booth for BabyLegs and Woobee Kids at this January's OR show. It is a great market for both companies.

Anyway, the trade show is HUGE and we have been able to accomplish a lot of our goals, such as sending around a petition to have a kids section in the directory listing, source materials for Woobee Kids and BellySock, and spread the word about our wonderful products. We also ran into a girl that I met at the JPMA show who is a partner in a wonderful baby carrier company called Belle Carriers...recently photographed with Julia Roberts using it - go Belle! Now that's the kind of celeb you want strutting your product.


Tomorrows the last day of the show and then we are flying home. I miss the girls and Ron so much. I do however appreciate this time to focus on business. Nicole and I have had some amazing chances to prep for meetings and get to know fabrics and also each other even better. It is always good to be in business with people you respect and can learn from - let go of all ego, be open to the experience, and soak it up.

Outdoor Retailer Trade Show

I am getting ready to fly to Salt Lake City to walk the huge and very cool Outdoor Retailers Show w/ Nicole from BabyLegs. We will be looking at cool new products, packaging, booth set-up, and other companies that may want to petition the OR group to have a children's section. If anyone out there has an outdoor product...and is interested in being part of this show, email me.

Here is the reality of being a mom that owns a growing business (here's a new pic of me, Ava, and Lola in the sunglasses). Leaving on a trip to a trade show is a logistical nightmare when it comes to girls (here they are with me at a BBQ). The idea of having my own business is that the girls don't need to be childcare 5 days a week (or even 4), and I can be available to help drop off and pick up from school/pre-school. So when something like a trade show comes up it is all hands on deck. Friends and family are called, favors are cashed in, and my husband gets a list of all the different places the girls need to be dropped off in order to have care (summertime and Ava's school hasn't started yet). Keep in mind that two children is much harder to find care for than one, especially when one is a potty training 2.5 year old. It literally takes me longer and more energy to plan for the trip than to go on the trip itself.

I really do appreciate my husbands flexible schedule Full Speed Ahead allows him (he designs bike parts - Peter Pan life). It would be impossible to do this Woobee Kids gig without that.

Hey, my friends (mother daughter team) just launched their web site and the clothes are great! The company is called Lil' Squirtz, and if you are into vintage looking original clothes you will love love love it. Check them out.

Working Moms...always working.

I believe I have mentioned that I signed on with a PR firm called 32 Flavors PR. I chose this boutique style firm because I really felt like Liz (the face behind the firm) had great style and she is a mom...not just a mom of one lil' girl, but pregnant with yet another girl. Some people in business suggested to me that it might not be a great idea to hire her with the new baby due to arrive soon and that she may not be able to give Woobee Kids the time it deserves to move forward. I say FOOEY! (and check out Fooey - I love this company).

Liz emailed me some pr opportunities with questions i needed to answer on Wednesday. I email her back that night late, expecting to have an email from her when I woke up (she's in NY 3 hours ahead). No email...hummm...I have a sneakin' suspition a new baby is in route. Turns out I am right and I get an email from her via Blackberry that afternoon, "thanks" for the questions I mailed back "had baby will be back in the office monday". Wow! I sent back a little congrats email and some trade show stuff expecting not to hear from her until monday, but no, I get another email from her via Blackberry responding to my trade show stuff! ROCK STAR! Newborn on the teet, Blackberry in the palm. That is a prime example of what it is like to be a mom and run a business...multi-tasking people. Mothers in business have a sense of obligation that is amazing. I could not be happier with my choice to support another mom in business who does a kick ass job. Thank you Liz!

Success in Potty Training

I gotta tell ya', there is nothing like a bad tummy to get your 2.5 year old in the swing of pooping in the potty. We had only one true successful potty plop until yesterday when Lola managed to make it to the potty 9 - yes 9 - times with a rumbly tummy. She definitely has the hang of pooping in the potty now. Today the belly is better and she is still on the right track, but she doesn't seem to understand that a successful poop should actually be in the potty. Lola seems to think that if she is outdoors the potty goal is just to maintain a clean pair of underwear. The tricky part is praising her cleanliness but explaining that the grass or patio is not the best place to release the ol' bowels. Safety first, and the bottom line (no pun intended) is poop is just not safe.

Aside from life w/ kids, everything in Woobee land is great. The article in Parenting magazine has kept me very busy filling orders. I am also finally getting the hang of my new job at BabyLegs. It was difficult at first for me to focus on a business that wasn't my own. I have been promoting Woobee Kids for so long, thinking about new ways to promote BabyLegs was an interesting challenge. It was a new mind set that I needed to acquire. But, I love the product and I think I am definitely getting my groove on now.

Lawyers - arrrrrgh.

Woobee Kids and BellySock's contract with BabyLegs is at the point where we (WB & BS) need to retain a lawyer to oversee the negotiations, because as everyone knows friendships can be preserved by a well written contract that benefits all. With that said, we have interviewed two different experienced firms. And the one thing that is loud and clear - can you say trademark?!

Once you talk with a lawyer you will want to run out and trademark your beloved product, despite the expense (BTW around $2500 - $3000 w/ no complications). I personally feel kind of pinned against a wall...Woobee is a popular name for children products and i do not want to go into production on a large scale and find out someone else has legal rights to my name/brand. That would be financially and morally devastating. So I need to come up with the $2500 to trademark Woobee in case someone challenges me, or risk it until I am more financially able to come up with that money? ALL the lawyers we talked with made it very clear that we would be idiots to risk it. So now we come up with the money to trademark and then the money to have the contract drawn up.Well, I guess the girls don't get new clothes for school this year - just kidding, kind of...

Poop goes plop!

When my life is crazy tasks that seem to big are set aside until I have time to clearly think about their execution. Potty training Lola has been one of those tasks. She is attending a little pre-school 2 days a week in August and the children are supposed to be potty trained. In the past every time we had asked her to wear underpants she very adamantly shouted "NO" followed by throwing herself on the ground repeating "no underpants" over and over. Now that I no longer work nights I have actually taken time to think about this task and whoa-la, Lola is potty trained!!! Well, she doesn't use diapers except at night time, oh and she has only pooped in the potty once at a friends house.

Here's another wonderful use for Woobee blankets - lay them down on the bed or carseat soft side up when potty training to protect surfaces.

The poop thing was an issue for my eldest Ava too. She was scared of the sound of the poop hitting the water - plop! Lola is actually encouraged by this and has adopted the phrase "poop goes plop" as her mantra. I am so pleased with how quickly Lola figured out the whole pee thing I am just fine being patient about the rest of it. After all, I have a good feeling that she isn't going to college wearing a diaper at night so she can have her morning poop in "comfort".

Another practical and well known use for BabyLegs...potty training. Lola is adorable cruizing around in her naked bottom and green pok-a-dot BabyLegs.

What Happens When You Get Press?

Check me out. I am getting all crazy with this blogging stuff and adding pictures! This is Georgia kicking it at the park on a pistachio/chocolate Woobee blanket. Her mom Della Chang is an awesome photographer and took this shot.

The Parenting magazine August issue is out already to its subscribers. I know this because I have already had an increase in sales-hooray! This is not always the case for all press. It has been my experience that getting press does ot always equal immediate sales. Take Woobees piece in Seattle Metropolitan mag's "Best Of" July issue - I don't think I felt a thing from that sales wise. What I do get though is people seeing the product when I am out and about (I use the blankets for everything in the summer - towels, picnic blankets, wind blockers) and commenting on how they remember seeing Woobees in the magazine. So, even if it is not sales it is brand recognition which in return will bring you sales. Personally, I prefer the kind of pres that brings in immediate sales - call me crazy.

The girls are at summer camp from 10am - 3pm three days a week. I have been able to get a lot more work done with this new schedule and the best thing is I know they are having a great time. If all the stars are lined up, they will both take naps when they get home too - like today. When I have ample time to get business taken care of for Woobee and now also for BabyLegs, I am much more focused on my time with Ava and Lola. It has truly been amazing not waiting tables at night and being home with my family. I am a lucky girl!

Yeah Parenting Magazine!

So Woobee's little blurb is coming out in Parenting Magazine's August issue. It is actually official, I saw it. Now we will see what actually happens. My hopes & dreams...sell so much product I am scrambling to get everything in production. I found a great new local production team and am anxious to use them.

Here's a mommy manufacturer tip: don't stop looking for a better price on your production until you are 100% satisfied. And remember when you are figuring out your products price look past just the cost of your materials. Fold in the cost of your marketing, cost of running your business (electric, Internet, shipping, rent, etc.), any rep fees, and other cost you may have. If you just take into consideration your material cost you will not make a living, but rather be very busy with a new costly hobby. I don't know about you, but I certainly do not have time for any more hobbies...I don't even have time for my old ones.

Trade shows

Tradeshows are one of those things that you really don't want to do, but you kind of have to if you want your brand to have weight & validity in its community. In a nutshell trade shows are exhausting, expensive and it is a miricle when you see your return in sales. Deciding which show to do is nerve racking. If you only have budget for one or two shows you want to choose well. A slow show can really get a girl down. Then there is the cost of the booth (the physical space you need to rent), the displays and posters you are going to use, shipping these items, catalogs and print material you need to give out - oh, and do not forget to have press kits for the press room! You can also find out what press will be there ahead of time and call to schedule an appointment with them to talk about your product. Taking advantage of the press that is there can help you tremendously. FREE press is the best press!

Woobee Kids, BellySock and BabyLegs will be at the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas Sept 7-10 (I will be there personally too so come by and say hi), Nicole from BabyLegs is taking us to Germany for the huge kids show in mid-Sept., and we will also be at Mom2B the last weekend of September in LA. This is one of the reasons this Woobee/BabyLegs merger is important for my company...the ability to get exposure that would not normally be able to afford. It takes money to make money - sad but true.

Here comes the Sun, do do do do....

My daughters think that every time we play Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles it literally brings out the sun. Unfortunately, the weather in Seattle changes so quickly and frequently I haven't been able to disprove this crazy (but sweet) idea they have.

I have taken on the song as my sort of anthem though. Here Comes the Sun - it's been a long cold lonely winter - between my injured husband, death & sickness in my family, starting a new company while waiting tables & taking care of my girls, it seems like years since it's been here...but now I don't wait tables anymore, Woobee blankets were in the Best Of Seattle issue of Seattle Metropolitan Mag, my husband is done with school, and my eldest daughter is starting full-time kindergarten (can I get a high five for full-time kindergarten!). And I say, it's alright do do do do dodo.

PS Speaking of sun, I am looking for the best beach foods...with all this sun comes sand, and I need easy eats that are sand friendly- any ideas?

No room to think, if I had it would it matter...

I find the record keeping part of business the most challenging, especially with children around. You need space to actively think when doing finances - physical and mental. Between the endless river of conversation that is my 5 year old and the mischievous nature of my two year old when surrounded by piles of paper, there is no way to carve out bookkeeping time while the girls are around. This is why I tend to go long periods of time before entering orders and receipts into the dreaded Quickbooks. I try to be practical when entering long overdue receipts and orders - I consider myself a level headed, common sense kind of girl. So why does everything seem so complicated with this accounting system? You take money in...money goes out...I enter the transactions and get back a mess of information that does not seem even vaguely familiar. When this merger with BabyLegs and Woobee is complete I will NOT be sad to see this duty go far far away.

Summer?

I wonder if it's summer anywhere else in the world? Here in Seattle it still seems to be tittering on the edge of springtime and my girls are sooooo ready for nakie bottoms and beaches! Where is the smell of sweet sun kissed skin, mildewing bathing suits and ripe strawberries? Don't get me wrong, as an owner of a weather resistant baby blanket company I am ecstatic the public still has their Woobees attached to the front of their strollers/Bjorns - it does makes me warm and fuzzy every time I see a Woobee in use. July however, is right around the corner and temperatures aren't breaking 70. Enough is enough. Tonight I will have to turn on the Happy Feet Soundtrack and do a sun dance!

Whew, what a wild ride....

Sorry I've been away so long. I am making a commitment to write at least three times a week so keep checkin' in and bugging me if I am slacking.

I have been such a crazy tattered mompreneur for the last month. First of all we have been cycling through the flu...and it has been a doozy - yuck! I truly dislike holding my daughters already thin body while she is heaving into the toilet (if I am lucky) or having my 2 year old puke all over me numerous times. I feel so badly for the them, feeling their quivering little bodies, seeing the looks on their faces & trying to calm them down. I saw more puke this last month than I did in my twenties...and I was pretty naughty in my twenties.

Another reason for my craziness - I hired a PR company called 32Flavors PR. Liz Sorensen is my rep and I love her. I could see myself having coffee or a glass of wine with Liz. I picked her company because I like her sense of style, she's a mom, and she also dabbles in a children's company of her own Luna Lou. I haven't been able to judge her work with Woobee since we just signed the contract and I just sent out my new press kits to her. Hopefully she likes them and will find good responsive homes for them:) I gotta say, it was incredibly time consuming putting the kits together. I thought it would be easy since I had some for JPMA, but these are Cd's and paper copies.

The cherry on top of my tattered mom insanity, myself (Woobee) and another wonderful mom owned company called BellySock (Deb is the owner) http://www.bellysock.com/ are in the process of having a manufacturing & distribution contract drawn up with yet another incredible mom owned company called BabyLegs http://www.babylegs.net/. Nicole Donnelly is the mom owner of the fast growing company BabyLegs who invited us to join her company and utilize all the sources/connections BabyLegs now has. Deb and I are both excited to have much of the workload and financial worry lifted off our backs. BabyLegs has an amazing network for us to move into as well as manufacturing connections with Fair Trade facilities. Deb and I will both still own 100% of our companies and are now working for BabyLegs as the business development manager (me) and quality assurance manager (Deb) as well as overseeing operations of Woobee and BellySock. Once a good solid contract is agreed upon and all the millions of little details are worked out, it will be a wonderful opportunity for all companies involved.

Hope you all are having much success in all areas of your lives! I'll keep you posted on mine.

Building a company on a 14 hour week

I should be clear, I have 14 hours of child free time to work on Woobee. I utilize ever other spare moment within a 24 hour day as well. The problem is - and you other moms out there will understand this - every time you start a task when your children are round something will come up and they will need you, every time. When children are sleeping is the key time to accomplish a task, that is where it gets a little sticky for me. Here is why...



My husband was hurt in an accident when my now 5 year old was 18 months, and after rehab and a lot of pain he was able to go back to work as a chef. So we moved forward with our life freshly rich with gobs of medical debt and planned our second child. While I was pregnant the screws and plates in his ankle started to work their way out. He needed two more surgeries. The first when I was 8 months along and we planned for the last surgery for 2 weeks postpartum. Then our vivacious Lola was born and at 10 days old hubby came home from work revealing that he was not able to ever go back. He just was not physically able to do it anymore. Long story short - he went into a dislocated workers program and is finishing his degree next month:) So I have gone back to waiting tables to be home with my girls during the day, plus it gives me flexibility that I need with our situation. I work on Woobee during the times the girls are at pre-school - which is 14 ours a week - and I use random moments of house harmony to do more Woobee work.



Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I still feel very lucky even though I am certainly not where I thought I would be at 36. Hubby will have an education in a field he'll excel at, he has the most amazing relationships with the girls (as do I), and I get to grow a striving company. I will be happy to go down to one job...Woobee...and get a little more sleep. It won't be long now.

Weekends are made for...

Remember when weekends meant busy bars (which were sooooo much fun), breakfast joints at 10:00 am, afternoon movies, and/or naps. Now it seems they are made for working out deals with my husband so I can wiggle more time to work on Woobee business. I try to put aside at least 3-4 hours where we spend time doing something together as a family, but since I work weekend nights and since I only have 14.5 hours a week child free to plot my Woobee world domination I am always trying to squeeze extra time. It's a tricky situation. If my hubby takes the girls the majority of the day during the weekend, and then has all the night time routine (while I am at work) it isn't really co-parenting. We are always trying to create balance and the one thing to get pushed aside is our time alone. I miss my husband even though he is sitting right across from me.

Celebrity Swag for a Tattered Mompreneur

Angele Bassett and me - Angela chose camo & pistachio Woobee blankets for her double stroller.
Alley Sweeny from Days of Lives was so sweet and really beautiful. She choose a pistachio Woobee blanket and bib for her son Ben.

Celebrity swag is an interesting concept that has turned me into a total crazy person. I spend more time than I have searching for that one picture of a big celeb using their Woobee blanket that will propel my company to the next level. I know weird things about celebs, like the color of Shiloh Joile-Pitts stroller. I actually researched this so when I sent sweet Shiloh a Woobee blanket in a 1st b-day gift basket it would match. I tell ya' c-r-a-z-y!

Woobee products have recently been invited to participate in a lot of different celebrity events and giveaways, plus private requests from agents/stylists. I don't know how many of you actually know how the whole thing works, but let me give you a rundown. There is usually a price to pay to participate in an event or giveaway, ie. I was just contacted to do the daytime Emmy's and the MTV awards gifting suites. The Emmy's would cost me $12,000 plus 70 blankets to give away...and yes I said $12,000. The MTV awards would be $5,000 plus 30-40 pieces of product. Essentially you travel down to the event, set-up, and give away the farm to whoever comes by. The hope is that a celeb will graciously accept your product and pose for a picture. It is this picture and the comments the celebs make that you will e able to market. It is key to write down the comments - press want that info.

I know there are those of you out there who are totally bugged by giving free products to people that can afford it (I get grumpy about that too) but let's be honest - I am trying to capatalize on their fame. I am trying to get a piece of their action, which they have no doubt worked very hard for. I have sent Woobee products to the Joile-Pitt clan, Marcia Cross, Melissa Joan Hart, Jason Priestly, and more hoping that one day the Universe will be in line and a photographer will click a picture of them using their Woobee and it will get published in some raunchy tabloid, or better yet US Weekly:) Wow, I am starting to feel a bit like a leech. Anyway, my point is no one is given something for nothing. The celebs get free crap because we want them to help promote us. The only problem is catching the moment if/when they do.

How did I get Woobee in the celeb circuit? I was invited to bring Woobee's to a pre-Golden Globe gifting suite for kids (Big Kids Style Villa). How did I get invited? The pr firm putting on the event read reviews about Woobee's on blogs and message boards - the internet works. Yes, I paid money to be there and gave away loads of product. Yes, that is very hard for me to do since my products are locally made in Seattle and are very expensive to manufacture. Am I happy I went? Yes. The event itself was very disorganized, but the pay off has been good. I also traveled down with BabyLegs and shared a private gifting suite with them which was a blast.

You can check out Woobee at the Golden Globe gig at my site home page www.woobeekids.com. Click on the link to see the pic's and read celebs comments.

Hi Everyone

I am so excited to actually be starting my blog!! As a mom at home with my two girls during the day, working at night, and running my own company during naps and moments of child harmony, starting my blog has been on my list just under "surviving". Clearly I have managed to survive long enough to start the Woobee Mom blog - amazing. I would like to thank my friend Coffee, for who without I would get nothing done.

A little background about myself...I started a company called These Two Girls about 1.5 years ago and I design and manufacture Woobee products www.woobeekids.com. I am a mompreneur, which is one of the fast growing types of micro-business groups. Mompreneurs by definition are women who started a company after having children with ideas inspired by the little rascals themselves. I have to be honest, the name mompreneur sounds a bit silly to me. It lacks a certain seriousness about it, and let me tell you - we are seriously working our buns off.

Although I would now like to blog all day, while my girls are napping I want to enter some items in Quickbooks, which is for whatever reason ridiculously hard for me to do. Not the physical act of entering receipts, but the just sitting down to do it part. I did however finally get a new laptop and learned how to network my home computers and actually set up a remote desktop to the computer with my Quickbooks file!!! I just about cried when it all came together last night. You need to understand that I am NOT techy at all and this simple change will make a huge difference in my life. The time and energy I will save is remarkable.

Hooray, it's time for my afternoon coffee:)